A Vulpine Spanner in the Works
by Ten-Tailed-God
Summary: Believing that Momonga was the only Player remaining in YGGDRASIL at closing is an impossibility. What would happen if another Player, one not influenced by a guild of monsters arrived in the New World? Not all heroes are human, and not all monsters are skeletons. Sometimes, what one needs to change the world isn't great strength but instead trickery.
1. Chapter 1

**Vulpine Spanner in the Works  
Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Journey's Tail**

Finishing a fight with only one chance and a limited amount of time was something slightly new to me. I jumped to my left and ducked behind a shard of rock that jutted from the floor just as a bolt of lightning blasted past the area I once was. The conjuror of this lightning was the boss monster known as **[Odin: The Allfather]**. A human-like being with a white beard, an eyepatch over a scarred eye, and a large staff that absolutely crackled with power. Time was not on my side as I looked at a timer on the side of my HUD.

23:56:04

I only had about four minutes to beat this boss before the game known as YGGDRASIL was finally shut down. When I first found out, I had been a little depressed at the implication that all my adventures on this game would finally come to a close. There had been no true reason as to why this game was getting shut down which had surprised the entire player base of this DMMO-RPG, and it made me believe that the developers might be making a sequel. I hoped so since none of the games in the US could match up to the hyper-realistic design of YGGDRASIL.

The other aspect that no other game on the market was even close to reaching was the freedom of player choice. This game has over 700 races to choose from as well as 600 classes to augment your character with. Rule of thumb was that no two characters would be the same in this game unless you used some guide to prebuild your character. Other than that, the sky's the limit and players took to it like bees to honey. It helps that the entire world the game takes place in was so large that much of it still hasn't been explored yet. Too bad none of it ever will after the next eight minutes.

When I had first started this game, I bought it out of bored curiosity and had no idea of the scope it would cover. Sadly, I decided to make the mistake of not reading the rules for this game, specifically about how you could only ever make one avatar. Yeah, being the dumb jackass that I am at times, I chose in my character creation the option of making my character a female thinking that it would be a funny joke to mess with people online about what my actual gender was. Bad decision on my end since I the race I chose, which was the Kitsune, had a severe penalty at the start of the game which made people avoid picking them like the plague.

After level ten, every ten levels all the way up to 100 you had to beat nine consecutive bosses without dying once, otherwise leveling up past 19 would be impossible. That was something that turned off most players from taking this race, and made me originally regret ever picking it since every time that you died in this game, you would be set back up to five levels which you would then need to level up once more to try the consecutive boss run again. Thankfully, it was balanced with the **[Kitsune Ascension]** racial skill which granted a single tail to your character after every ten levels, along with a ten percent increase in my Mana Points, Magic Attack, and Magic Defense which were permanent and couldn't be lost even with level loss.

This made playing the Kitsune race at high levels an amazing reward for the ridiculous requirements. The buffs that you got because of the race did make one a target by other players in this game, sadly enough. People would either want you to join their guilds or they would kill you to set you back a few levels. Sometimes both were an option. It didn't help that I was singled out at times since I was an American playing a Japanese game and a lot of PKers (player-killers) saw that as a red flag to chop you up into tiny bits. But hey, that's just the way MMO's work.

There was one problem when playing a game that doesn't allow you to change your character's appearance when combined with being a perverted jackass, and that was when making a character like I did, I found out early on the issue that I can't see anything around my feet. Upside, no back pain at least!

It is an embarrassing weakness that has gotten me killed in the past before.

Originally, with Kitsune in mind, I designed the character to be distracting to other players, that way I could have a small edge for whenever I would enter PvP. Pretty face, long golden blonde hair, orange slitted fox eyes, and a very voluptuous body all capitalized on being a distracting tease. Add a pair of golden furred fox ears and nine tails and it completed the look. I originally regretted the decision, but over time I learned that my character has her perks and I've made very good use of them.

Regardless, all of my decisions that I've made in this game have led to this one moment. Soloing a boss with only a small amount of time left.

I tapped my finger on thin air, and a menu filled my view. Tapping the button for spells, I was greeted to a list of names that started from 0th Tier, all the way to 11th Tier. I tapped quickly and pulled up a spell list and with practiced ease, I activated my first spell.

"**[Replicant]**" I announced and watched as a flame split off of me and floated away. A moment later and a body burst into being from that flame, the same as mine. "Distract." I commanded, and my temporary clone rushed from cover and ran around the arena, taking the attention of Odin away from my hiding spot.

**[Replicant]** is a spell that allows the caster to create a magical copy of themselves. They could do everything the caster could, from casting spells and such. The only downside was that the AI controlling the copy was shit at times, and the spell could burn through your mana if you weren't careful about it.

From the corner of my eye, I could see my mana meter barely dropping from using that spell. At low levels, a spell-caster using that spell would burn up through their mana in less than 30 seconds. For me, that wasn't an issue anymore since I had more mana than I knew what to do with at times. My style of play involved making any fight I took part in unfair and terrible for my opponents. Everything I did was meant to be a mind game that made people play by my rules, not by theirs. The best part was fighting any players that I had enraged, it's what I lived for. And, being honest, I'm way too much of a troll in this game for my own good.

Too bad the AI of this game is too simple for that. Instead, I just needed to use simpler spells to distract them for my grand finishers.

Then, I quickly tapped a few more buttons on my menu until I got to what I wanted. I quickly stood up from my cover and moved enough from my cover to spot Odin. This fight needed to be ended now, and I had one spell which I was saving for moments when I needed to bring some real damage to a fight. I looked at the time once more.

23:57:06

Three minutes. I can do this.

I made one final tap on my menu and selected one of the strongest spells I owned. "**[Grand Catastrophe]**" I shouted with a dramatic flourish of my hands and tails. The charge up of the spell took two seconds, but due to an item I had which shortened cast times and with my **[Replicant]** taking care of Odin, I didn't need to worry about being attacked. A small beep alerted me that the charge up time was done, and from my hand, a white beam filled the area of the entire room with both Odin and my** [Replicant] **clone becoming engulfed in the light. There were only two downsides to this spell. One involved the damage a user's allies could take from the Area of Effect of the spell. Thankfully for me, I rarely went into battles with allies which mitigated the first risk. The other downside was the amount of mana the spell, and others part of the same class as it, used was absurd. Most players who used spells like it would be completely out of mana at this point, me, I had a half left.

Eventually the spell's light faded and revealed a charred landscape with only Odin still remaining. My clone had been annihilated by the blast while Odin himself wasn't doing any better with only a little bit of ten health remaining. That boss was one tough cookie.

He then raised his staff above his head and screamed to the heavens. This meant that he was on his final boss phase. With a slam of his staff to the ground, bolts of lightning burst from the tip of his staff and started hitting the entire area around him. His AoE was absolute murder if you didn't have enough Magic Defense.

Even with my ability to resist magical attacks, I didn't want to give him a chance to kill me with a good hit. I brought up my menu once more and prepared my next spell. "**[Inari's Immolation]**" I said as a raging inferno burst beneath Odin's feet and swallowed the boss in his entirety. I put all of my remaining mana into the attack just to make sure that Odin didn't have any health remaining.

The inferno spun itself out after a few more seconds and revealed Odin lying defeated on the ground. My eyes widened as Odin seemed to almost push himself back up, but then he collapsed to the ground and burst into dust which made me sigh in relief. I saw a staff remaining where Odin once was, then I glanced at the timer and jumped for joy.

23:59:19

Killed him with a minute to spare.

With a quick jog over to Odin's former resting place, I picked up the item. It was a tri-pronged staff with a crystal at the top that seemed to barely contain the energy within it. I felt completely satisfied now. It had taken almost twenty minutes and a shit ton of prep-time, but the battle was over and I had won. I opened up my storage space and put the staff inside before letting it close again. Not much I could do now with only a few seconds left on the clock, so I just walked to the only exit of the dungeon with my head held high, and my tails wagging behind me. The heels of my shoes clicked against the stone floor, as if ticking down each second I had left in this game that I'd spent much of my time on.

23:59:54

Six seconds left as I was almost to the exit.

"Goodbye, YGGDRASIL. I'm glad I had the pleasure of playing you." I announced with some sadness as I stepped through the exit and into the bright light beyond.

24:00:00

I was completely floored when I stepped onto a dirt road heading into some random direction. "Okay, what? The game should be shut down now." I muttered to myself before pressed my finger in the air to open up my console. And nothing is happening. Okay, odd. I quickly tapped my finger in the air repeatedly.

Still nothing. Okay, maybe it's just lag and the server is just processing the shutdown. I took a breath and calm waiting for my console to open up.

I waited an entire minute...then I started panicking.

"What the fuck, what the fucking fuck!?" I shouted as I kept pressing the air, waiting for my console to open up. Then, I stopped and my hand went to my mouth. My mouth could move, something that shouldn't be possible when you talk in YGGDRASIL. "My voice. What the hell happened to my voice?!" Yeah, panic is the perfect emotion to have right now. Instead of a normal male voice like I expected, I could only hear that of a sultry female.

My hands held my head as I thought about what was going to happen to me if I was trapped in this game. My body was going to waste away if I was trapped in here and then I'd die. At that moment, my hands brushed against the ears on top of my head. I could feel it.

Oh shit, how can I feel? I put my gloved hand, with a ring on each finger, in front of my face and made a grip. That registered very quickly in my mind. In YGGDRASIL, while there was some small sense of feeling, just enough to let you know that you were holding an item, it wasn't like what I was feeling now. This felt the same as real life, and that was terrifying. None of this should be real! I should be back in my room right now, not stuck in this game!

I fell to my knees in despair and felt my overly large chest jiggle. I glanced down and sighed. You've got to be kidding me, even the breasts are animated?

That made me stop for a second. If the devs were still somehow running this game, then any lewd action I take would get me banned, and therefore, get me out of this game. I grinned, then I felt terrified knowing that I could feel my face grinning, another thing that should work in YGGDRASIL. Attempting to ignore that thought, I was surprise as I was able to quickly squeeze one of the breasts before shouting out, "Hey! You seeing this? Get me banned!" Then I stopped feeling myself up because of the new and strange pleasure I was getting from it as well as the fact that I was able to perform that action.

That shouldn't have been possible to begin with. Something was wrong. Very wrong!

"Ban me you fuckwits! I want out!" I shouted to the night sky, and yet nothing responded. No chat, no console menu, and no ban.

I was well and truly fucked.

My face felt flush with anger while my eyes burned from withholding tears. "I just want to go home." I whispered before letting myself lay on my back. I looked up at the sky and prayed to any person or deity to free me from this place. I closed my eyes and felt tears stream down my face as the feeling of sleep overtook my mind.

* * *

I woke up after feeling the bright light of the sun shining in my face. I groaned as I didn't want to wake up, I was very comfortable in this nice cozy blanket of mine. I attempted to pull the blanket's covers above my head to block out the light but stopped when my hands felt the blanket. First; my hand was covered in a glove. Second; even with my hand covered in a glove, I could somehow still feel the fluffy fur of the blanket.

My eyes shot open and I looked down to see that there were nine golden furry tails wrapped around me, keeping my body nice and warm, with one tail acting as a pillow. I quickly panicked and attempted to jump out of the tails that were snaked around me, and instead crashed back in the ground with both me and all the tails ending up in a tangled heap. This felt suffocating, I didn't like this tight space, and I wanted out. NOW!

And, as if obeying an unseen command, the tails sprung apart and freed my body. When I got a good look at my now female body, my head slammed back into the ground and I sighed. "It wasn't a dream. Why am I stuck here, and why does this body feel like it belongs to me?" I asked no one in particular. Maybe, this might all be real, and I could just be trapped inside this realm. The thought crossed my mind, after all, how could I even feel things like I do right now? I even managed to break rules of the game by performing R-18 actions which should've been either impossible and/or gotten me banned.

For what felt like an hour, I just laid there, wondering about what I should do as my mind processed everything that was happening to me. I was trapped in this place and ended up becoming a character of my own design, but that should be insane. I should be able to get free from here and return back home. But, what if I was trapped forever here in this world, unable to get back into my original body? Should I feel upset or elated that I didn't have to deal with any of my responsibilities in the real world?

I _was_ upset about this whole situation, I mean, I am upset. None of this was my choice, I just got forced here against my will to do God knows what.

_But, is it truly all that bad?_ I mean sure, I'm not in my original body, and I've ended up with the wrong reproductive organs as well. And yet, I have some cool tails and ears, and for some reason even though my HUD is gone, I know the exact amount of mana I have which makes me think I can still use magic.

Yet, I still need to get home.

And what would that bring me? Boring work, high taxes, a lack of any real social life outside of a video game? My parents aren't around, and the only person who cares about me is my boss, and he would only wonder why I'm losing him money not working. These are the reasons _you_ even started playing this game in the first place._ To escape. _

That is true. A huge reason I enjoyed YGGDRASIL was because even if I could be a troll to others, I could also be a hero. At times when I helped people in the game, I felt like I had accomplished more than what I did at work. More than what I did stuck in a office cubical, looking at a slowly ticking clock and hoping that I could just keel over and spare myself the misery of coming back to that place.

Perhaps this is what I needed. _And always wanted._

None of what I'm thinking will happen, from either getting back to my real body or enjoying my time here, unless I make it happen. I couldn't waste anymore time thinking, I needed to be active or else life would tick on by with every second wasted. With my mind firm on doing something, I looked around my body to see the golden tails splayed out. _My_ golden tails splayed out. I quickly wondered how one would even go about controlling multiple tails. Do you just think, and the tails do, or is there something more than that? One way to find out.

With surprisingly little mental effort, I had one of my tails raise itself in the air and wiggle a little bit. Keeping it raised in the air, I looked at the other tails and willed them to do the same. With a sense of accomplishment, I watched as all the tails moved about in the air. Guess that answers my question.

I didn't know what I was going to do, but moving, doing something other than lying down on the ground was much better than remaining here and wasting away. I needed to move, _movement is survival_. So, I pushed myself into a standing position and began walking...

Only to immediately lose my balance on the high-heeled boots that I was wearing and fall face-first towards the ground. I braced myself for some pain but was pleasantly surprised when I saw two of my tails had cushioned my fall. Thank God for that. Getting back onto my feet, I felt myself wobble in my shoes slightly before finding my balance.

Apparently wearing heels in the game does not translate to wearing them here. At least I now know this. I bent over to try and look at my feet and had to keep an arm on my new...extremities to prevent them from getting in the way. The black boots were trimmed in gold with heels that were intimidatingly high and went up to my body's thighs.

I know that I want to be wearing anything other than these boots, but if I'm going to be honest, I doubt that I'll find any divine class items that could ever possibly replace them anytime soon. Guess I'll just have to learn how to walk in heels from now on. Couldn't be that hard, after all, my character had made it seem so easy to do so over the years.

It also felt strange to be wearing this dress that I was in. It had the design of one of those Chinese dresses but was missing sleeves and had a collar that covered my neck with a color design the same as my boots. The cuts up the side of the dress went to my hips which made me a little uncomfortable since I wasn't used to seeing what is now my body being exposed. I didn't exactly enjoy the draft on my legs or between the cleavage my dress revealed.

If I had been told that something like this would happen to me when I had made my character female, I probably would've not played a character with a female gender. Still, I needed to get used to walking, and by God, I would figure this out!

…Regret is something that became my friend this day as I wobbled down the dirt road mastering the art of walking like I wasn't drunk out of my mind. Thankfully, my tails came in handy whenever I was about to have an accident and would try to cushion all of my falls.

* * *

As I continued my clumsy journey, I began exploring other parts of my new anatomy. For instance, my sense of smell was ridiculous. And for some reason, my mind was able to register whatever I was smelling into context for me. Like, the animals wandering the forest, the plants, everything. It was weird at first, but I eventually got used to it. What I didn't get used to was my new empowered hearing.

The new ears sticking out from on my heard were more than just about looks. Everything was amplified for me and, swiveling my ears one way or another allowed me to pinpoint where certain sounds were. I doubted that I was going to get used to not feeling ears attached to the side of my head anytime soon. But, compared to the really big changes that happened to my body, having ears on top of my head instead of on the side were pretty small complaints.

From what I could see, this body seemed to act just like of a normal human, with some minor alterations. But, considering that this body was from the game of YGGDRASIL, I thought back on if and or how magic worked. I only took a moment to concentrate, but I could instantly recall my list of spells. From the effects, the ranges of their attacks, and how long it would take before I could use them again. It was weird.

Not a bad weird, but weird nonetheless.

Normally, spells used a cursor and motion to activate, I usually said my spells aloud because it sounded cool, and it let me remember what I had just cast. But, considering that I didn't have any display of a HUD anymore, it probably changed slightly. Sticking a hand forward, I concentrated on one of the spells locked in my mind.

"**[Fireball]**!" I shouted, and much to my amazement, a massive flame that towered over me was blasted from my hand, the heat swam of the spell warmed my body as it flew forwards until sputtering out a few hundred feet down the road. It was one thing to play a game and make a character cast a spell as you watched, it was another entirely to actually cast a spell and feel the power surging within you before releasing your will upon reality.

"Okay, awesome!" I said with a massive grin on my face. "Let's see what else I can do!" As I prepared another spell in my mind.

I'll be honest and admit that I spent the next ten minutes having a literal blast with casting random spells in my arsenal. I could feel the mana that each spell used, and how much I had left after my casting spree. It was an amazing and unique experience. If all my spells worked like they should, then I could probably be one of the strongest beings on the planet! That also made me wonder if all my abilities from the game were still with me. Concentrating, I reached a hand forward and a dark portal surrounded the limb. When I grabbed what I was after, I yanked quickly and pulled out the Staff of Odin. Grinning, I could just imagine all the trollish activities that I could perform to my leisure if I wanted with my storage space. Pushing the staff back into the portal, I felt completely at ease. I could do anything I set my mind to at this point.

Wait...

I concentrated and activated my spell **[Message]**. I couldn't have been the only person to have been brought here from YGGDRASIL. It was an impossibility that only one player would've waited the timer for the game to end. So, there was a chance that I wasn't alone here, and I wanted to take that chance. Hopefully a GM had stayed online for the end of the game and was in the same position I was. "Hello!? Calling all YGGDRASIL GMs trapped here! If anyone is around, please answer me." My message received no answer and I only felt a sense of the spell reaching forward and trying to grasp something, anything, and yet there was nothing. All that I got in return was silence.

Maybe I was in a location that was too far to hear the message, or I might be in a place that prevents messages for being heard? I'll just have to try in different locations to see if anyone would answer, then I'd admit that I might be truly alone in this world.

With a huff, I began marching forward once again, stumbling every once in a while, but slowly getting the hang of walking in these shoes.

* * *

What felt like an hour later, I had gained a sense of balance after trial and error, and felt that I could walk with complete confidence and not seem like a shambling wreck. Too bad that while learning how to walk normally, I found that my back felt a little sore. How do women get used to these things? It astounds me.

Luckily for me, my journey had taken me before a sign with directions. Unfortunately, the writing on this sign wasn't in a readable language and would've been a problem for me, if I didn't have the item known as the **[Lenses of Tongues]**, a rare item that used a special translation software in YGGDRASIL to translate encoded languages into a readable language for the user. It was originally looked at as a terrible, rare, low-tier item that barely had any use outside of a few quests. But then, people started to realize that coded languages other guilds used could possibly be translated with the item. It quickly became a go-to item by the player base due to its use in espionage against other player guilds. I luckily got mine before it became a wanted commodity.

Reaching into my storage space, I pulled out a pair of spectacles and put them on. I wasn't sure how the spectacles would work without a console menu relaying the information to me, but the first thing I noticed was a slight pressure behind my eyes that disappeared quickly after. When I looked at the signs, the letters slowly rearranged themselves from whatever gibberish I was looking at, to a fully readable translation in English. This would certainly help me in the long run as I doubted I could learn this world's languages in any quick amount of time.

Reading the sign, I read that in the direction that I was already traveling in, the city of E-Rantel was over three miles away from where I was standing. In the opposite direction, the city called E-Pepel was 35 miles away. Why were these names so unoriginal? Did whatever city-planner who was designing these cities just give up on the naming scheme? It's a letdown, but at least I knew that I was near a city. I could probably reach the city at a much faster rate if I wanted to, but I also wanted to get acclimated to walking in this body, so I was taking the long way.

Another thought that hit me quickly was that I didn't know how this place reacted to non-humans. In YGGDRASIL, there were towns that had biases to players that were demi-human, like upping the prices on items, or being unable to accept certain quests. Though, it wasn't as bad as players who chose heteromorph races which were completely denied access to certain cities.

The race I chose was considered a demi-human while in its humanoid form and a heteromorph when in its beastial form, but due to a racial class that I had taken later on in the game, I was considered a heteromorph in either form. Luckily, Kitsune had a special racial ability called **[Kitsune Illusion] **which could temporarily make your form look human and change your racial type to a humanoid one depending on the amount of mana you were willing to waste on it.

Getting closer to civilization made me wary of this risk, so without hesitation, I cast **[Kitsune Illusion] **and noticed the effect immediately. Before my eyes, reality seemed to devour my tails until nothing remained. I reached a hand out to where one of the tails used to be, and could only grab air, though I did notice a feeling almost like when a part of your body touched spiderwebs. That was a bit interesting, even if the whole experience was strange.

Feeling on top of my head, I noticed that my furred ears were now missing had had been replaced with a normal human set on the sides of my head. I didn't understand why, but the feeling of ears on the sides of my head was weirder than when they were on top. It felt wrong for some reason, even though I should've been feeling the opposite right now. It was almost like when one lost a limb.

I tried to shake this feeling out of my mind and ushered my legs forward on my journey. Thankfully, the journey only took me less than what I guessed was an hour. During that time, I took the chance to practice some of the random spells I knew, taking care to avoid using any of my more ridiculous spells, after all, I didn't want to attract any unwanted attention or use up more mana than what was already being used for my **[Kitsune Illusion]**. Didn't want it to short out on me by overdoing random spells

The barrage of new sounds against my ears; people talking, the wheels of wagons rolling, and the sounds of domesticated animals let me know I was close to civilization. I found it strange that even though I couldn't feel my ears, I could still hear quite clearly from them. Sadly, I couldn't enjoy the sounds since my enhanced sense of smell let me know of the other announcement of society. The waste!

I rubbed my nose as the stench of the city wafted into it. If this is what dogs and cats had to deal with on a daily basis in the city, then I felt complete pity for them. This stench was beyond horrid, and only the more delicious aromas of food and the nature around me seemed to balance it out. There had to be some way that domesticated animals could stand living with this terrible smell.

Attempting to breathe through my mouth was a start, but not a final solution for my problem. Maybe it was all just mental and I needed to block it out? I'd have to work on that while in this settlement.

Passing over a small hill, I could easily spot the settlement, which was a large city, in the distance and felt relief at finally reaching my destination. If I was going to be stuck in this world, then I needed to know more about it, and this city would probably provide many answers that I needed. So, without further hesitation, I walked down towards the entrance of this city which had multiple people bringing goods in and out of the city. Hopefully they wouldn't care about one more person entering.

The outer walls of the city stretched around it and were massive. A city with walls like that meant either one of two things, it was an old fortress that belonged to an evil overlord and was recommissioned as a city, or it was a defensive spot to ward off against large, nearby threats. I'm thinking that it's option two, but I'm not entirely certain.

When I had made my way to the line of wagons and people that stood before the gate, my plan of entering the city unnoticed hit a few snags, and then was promptly thrown in my face. Mainly, it was because of how I noticed all the attention that I was receiving, mainly from the males near me. Way to go with my first plan going up in smoke.

The other issue was that up ahead past all the wagons and people trying to enter the city, I saw the guards of the town having the visitors pay a toll for entrance, and considering that I had no idea what the currency of this world is, and my only gold was from YGGDRASIL with its own unique design on their coins, I'd be considered an outsider and possibly thrown into a jail cell to be interrogated.

Not good.

This meant I had plan B, plan C, and plan D to rely on.

Plan B was to simply **[Teleport]** into the city. I could easily use my **[Scry]** spells or one of my items to discern a good spot to **[Teleport]** into the city and be done with it. Plan C was to use **[Invisibility]** to sneak my way into the city without issue. I doubt there was a high enough level character in E-Rantel that could spot me. Plan D was to simply **[Charm Species]** the entire area and talk my way into being let into the city.

The downsides of each plan involved plan B being nullified through anti-search or anti-teleportation magic. Plan C was done the moment someone spotted me. And Plan D was screwed if the people here could resist my magic.

I believed that plan B would work out the best right now since I was already near the gate. I just needed some cover, and looking around, I spotted bushes and trees lining the dirt road that provided a bit of cover.

Now I just needed to get the attention of these ogling perverts off my fine ass. I quickly whispered "**[Silent Magic]**." Knowing that my spells couldn't be heard, I cast **[Fear]** on one of the nearby horses.

Quickly reacting, the horse began neighing loudly and jumped about in terror. This grabbed the attention of the people around me, and I quickly moved into the bushes and cast **[Invisibility]** upon myself and watched as my body disappeared before my very eyes.

I loved this spell and it had been a mainstay of mine since it worked extremely well with hit-and-run tactics that I employed. I especially enjoyed how it made me seem like the old comic-book character Batman with the whole becoming one with the shadows schtick of his. I couldn't tell you how useful this spell was in my early PvP days.

Become invisible, move around, and drop a load of damage spells in quick succession. I had to change my plan when I leveled up and fought stronger players, but it always was a good backup tactic for my fights.

I rushed my way through the gates as more people tried calming the fear-addled horse down. Suckers.

Upon entering the city, I saw that this area seemed overly-populated with guards and military equipment. In retrospect, should I have expected anything different considering how defended these walls looked?

Still, I needed to get information in this town, and playing many games over the years had taught one thing about big cities like these. There were probably some guilds in this city that could use an adventurer like myself to aid them. And, in any other RPG, the first thing that I would need to do to receive information is begin a quest and then receive an exposition dump from whatever character I was interacting with. If it was like multiple other games that I'd played, it might even end up with me becoming the guild leader due to some unforeseen circumstance.

Then, after that, I had to keep moving forward to my next goal. And to be honest, I wasn't sure what my end goal was. Walking in a random direction for many unknown miles gave me much time to think, and I've been thinking about what I really wanted. Did I want to leave this game, and all this power, to go back to my boring life at home. I still wasn't sure if all of this was real or just an advanced artificial reality. If it was real, then it didn't seem that bad of a life. I needed more information before I could truly come up with a decision.

Now, I just needed to get information about where some guilds were. The best people that could probably answer my questions were the city guards. I needed to find a job and get information, and who better to get information about the city than from those that guard it? Perfect plan, if I do say so myself.

After stepping into an alley and cancelling out my **[Invisibility]** spell, I made my way over to one of the guards who was standing by a building watching for any signs of trouble. I mulled over the idea of what would happen if I used **[Charm]** on this guy, but that brought up a whole slew of issues about whether or not he could resist it, if there was some type of magic detection for mental magic, even how the guard might act while under the spell's effect.

Too risky.

Besides, considering that I managed to turn a few heads before entering this city, I could probably use sex appeal to convince this guard to do what I want, and it would likely prevent him from asking me questions that I didn't want to answer. The only downside would be the loss of dignity as I tried to seduce answers out of the guard...

_Do it._

Maybe I should try to do that. It would be amusing to see how the guy would act, and I needed answers to move on. With my mind made up, I strode up to the guard and smiled. He was a blond man who seemed to be in his early twenties if I had to guess. The way the blond seemed to glance my way and stare at me before looking away with some shame that _seemed cute_. Wait, why did I just think that?

Pushing that thought out of my mind for later, I knew that there was one thing this guy seemed to radiate off his body. _Desire_, I could smell it rolling off the guy, and I could use it to my advantage.

"Hello, could you possibly help me for a moment?" I asked in a warm tone. His eyes immediately dashed to my eyes as his face began turning red.

"Uh, yes, my Lady? H-How can I possibly help you today?" He nervously replied. This was going to be way too easy, especially with how he called me his Lady. Maybe he assumed I was royalty because of my clothing? Didn't sound that bad now that I think about it.

"I'm a little lost, and I was thinking that a smart man like yourself could tell me where the nearest guild is." I answered with as much flattery as I could muster. He quickly nodded, with his eyes flickering below my face every once in a while.

Is that really what girls dealt with all the time? That must get annoying after a while. But, it also made me take note that if this was a video game, then the devs would've had to put some serious thought into the actions of all the NPCs. Seemed way too detailed for some game developers to want to program into some NPCs. This was only one observation, didn't make the inference that this reality is real a truth. I needed more evidence before I came to a complete conclusion.

"Certainly, my Lady. Y-You just need to travel down this road until you reach the middle layer of the city. After that, ask around and you'll be pointed to either the Adventurer's, Alchemist's, or Magician's guild." That wasn't exactly specific, and I needed specifics. So, I sidled up a little closer to him, and crossed my arms under my chest to push it up.

"Do you have a map that I could use to find my way? I'm afraid that even with your great directions, I'd still possibly end up quite lost. If you need payment, I'd be quite willing to _reward_ you for your help..." As my body sidled right against the guard's. Wait, why did I just say and do all of that?! I just needed directions and no questions, why was I going so overboard with this?

"I don't require a reward, my Lady. I-I'm happy to help out someone in need any way I can." He reached into a pouch strapped to his hip and pulled out a small map which showed me that the city was made of three concentric circles of walls. He pointed to one section of the map and said, "We are here. If you move up this road, it'll bring you to the second wall that'll take you to the residential district where the guilds are." He finished before tucking the map back away into his pouch.

"That was helpful. You really know your way around this city." I complimented. The guard had the decency to look bashful as looked away from me.

"It's no problem, my Lady. I'm just here to help those that need it. If a woman like yourself is searching for the guilds, you must need some help." He replied.

"Actually, I was planning on joining a guild. Though, I don't know which one to start with." I replied. Having three guilds to choose from gave me options, but knowing games, I'd make the most money and fame if I joined the Adventurer's guild. The Magician's guild probably involved honing magic skills which I had an overabundance of.

The guard seemed surprised at my statement. "Really? I never would've-well I can't-you just don't come off like much of…" The man fumbled with his words which made me grow an amused smile.

"I don't seem the fighting type." I finished for him.

"I-I wouldn't say that, my Lady. Y-You are probably very c-capable. Please excuse my rudeness." He apologized with a bow.

"You don't need to apologize. It's fine. I may not look it physically, but I'm actually a very strong magic user."

The man stopped bowing and looked up at me, "No doubt that you are capable. But, if you're a magic user, then the guild you would want to enter first is the Magician's guild." The guard told me.

"What about the Adventurer's guild? Wouldn't they also be fine to join?" I stood by my decision to not enter the Magician's guild. I didn't need them, but they would probably need me.

"I'm sure you could. I'm not exactly versed in guild politics, but most magic users go to the Magician's to start with."

"I'll keep that in mind, sir?" I left my answer with an invitation for him to give me his name. With all the help this guy gave me, I wanted to know who he was.

He grinned, "I'm Durrin, my Lady. If it's not too forward, could you tell me your name?" He asked with a hopeful expression on his face. I didn't want to use my real name since Aaron would sound weird as both a female name, and as a name to take in this new world with my new body. My character's name wasn't any better. Fox13itch wasn't exactly a name that inspired confidence, especially now. No, I needed something good, strong, and exotic...

"Kashia Blanc." I answered. Reading enough fantasy novels allowed me to quickly make up a name on the spot. Still haven't figured out how characters in fantasy novels have some of the strangest names. Not like I'm any better with my made-up one. At least the guard seemed quite pleased with hearing my name. That's all that really mattered.

"Kashia Blanc is a beautiful name for a beautiful woman." He stated. I did not expect him to start flirting with me. Then again, I initiated the conversation by practically throwing myself onto him. I found it strange that I wasn't blushing right now, normally getting told something like that in YGGDRASIL made me extremely embarrassed. The only advantage of the game was that the facial animations weren't advanced enough to show expression like that.

Here was a completely different story, and I was thankful for it.

"You can certainly flatter a woman, Durrin. I'll remember you." I said before walking away with a wave.

"H-Hopefully I'll see you again!" He replied. At least I made a friend here. Talking with Durrin did enlighten me in two different ways. For one, I now knew that E-Rantel had three guilds housed here. The other is that I doubt that I'm in a game anymore. The actions and reactions of Durrin were too…human to be frank. A program would have some moment of delay before being able to respond like he did. He also had a regular voice that could actually pronounce my name perfectly, unlike how a machine would stutter at certain vowels and or syllables.

I didn't know whether to be scared or happy about making this discovery of my fate. Besides learning about this world being real, I was also scared at how I was acting. I didn't understand why I could just seduce a guy and not feel embarrassed. There were also my thoughts earlier on Durrin. Why did I think he was cute? He was a guy, and before now I hadn't ever shown attraction to the male gender. Was this body messing with my mind?

I'd have to think more on this after I finished my business with the Adventurer's guild.

* * *

It didn't take long for me to arrive at the Adventurer's guild. Durrin's instructions had told me the area, but I needed to question the people around me for the specific location. Luckily for me, I wasn't wanting for help when asking some men for directions.

This all ended with me standing before a white building with the name 'Adventurer's Guild' emblazoned upon the top. The translation glasses I was wearing helped me in that department. Since entering this city, I hadn't taken them off once due to them being too useful. If needed, I could just claim that they helped me see.

When I stepped inside the guild, I noticed that it was quite busy with a large number of patrons. The guild hall was an open space with a flight of stairs about two meters away from the door that led to a second floor with wooden guardrails that people were leaning on. Next to the stairs was a bulletin board which was covered in sheets of paper that described different jobs which I saw a few adventurers indecisively hover in front of. Beyond that, I saw benches that had groups of people wearing armor and weapons talking to one another.

Stepping inside, I found multiple sets of eyes glancing at me. Some seemed to scan me before flicking away unimpressed. Others were out of curiosity, and more were from lust. I had to start somewhere, so I walked past the stairs and board and saw out of the corner of my eye a wooden counter with a few women standing behind. All of them wore matching red uniforms with a white bonnet covering their hair.

I walked up to the counter with one of the women behind it. "Hello there, you look new here. Is there anything that I can help you with?" She asked with a kind smile.

"Certainly. I was wondering how I would go about joining the Adventurer's guild? I wanted to do something that could pay well, and this place seemed to be the best bet." I answered.

"If you are planning to join the guild, then first you'll need to pay the entry fee of five silver coins. After that, you'll have to pay five copper coins to take the literacy exam before we mark you as a registered adventurer." She answered honestly.

Though, it did make me wonder on one thing, "So, if one pays the entry fee, then fails the literacy exam, what happens with their money for the entry fee? Seems a little step to pay one fee to enter and then pay another to take a test."

She nodded and continued, "If one were to fail the test, the entry fee wouldn't need to be paid again. You'd only have to pay for the literacy exam. It's the guild's way of weeding out those who try to waste our time if they can't read." The woman explained. That was a decent reason, it just made me wonder how many people in this city could read.

This also made me thankful that my glasses were still on. With them staying on, I'd have a decent excuse that I needed them to see. I only wondered what this exam was going to be like, also, if they would be kind enough to take my currency.

"I can accept your terms, but, would gold be a suitable replacement for silver and copper?" I asked as I reached into a pouch on my waist and pulled out a gold coin of YGGDRASIL and placed it onto the table. The coin had the design of a woman's face on one side, and a stylized version of the world tree on the other. Hopefully this would be considered acceptable currency.

The woman picked up my coin with a shocked expression as she flipped it over in her hand. "Ma'am, this is a bit unorthodox, but if this truly is gold then it would be acceptable as a payment. I've never seen coins of this design before, are you from another country?"

"Yes. I've been traveling for a while and wanted to settle down in a country somewhere. A month ago, I found an old cave that had a bag full of these coins which was guarded by these giant spiders. The spiders surprised me, but at least I got their gold." I answered with a half-truth. In YGGDRASIL I did indeed find a cave filled with spiders that had a treasure bag of goodies which included gold.

"I'll just need to check the authenticity of the gold, but afterwards you'll be cleared for the test." The woman said as she reached underneath the counter and pulled out a sheet of paper with numerous runes on it. That looked exactly like a spell scroll from YGGDRASIL.

Placing the coin onto the circle in the center of the scroll caused the seals on the paper to glow gold before creating a number at the bottom. The woman's eyes widened as she looked from the coin to me in rapid succession. After getting over her shock, the woman took the coin off the scroll, and I got to see the scroll ignite in a blue blaze and leave no trace of itself behind.

Finally, the woman tore her eyes away from the coin and looked up to me. "Ma'am, this more than pays for your fees. I can exchange some currency that we have for this coin, but there isn't enough right now to pay for it."

"Sure. I don't have any currency of this land right now, and I believe that it would be unwise to pay for everything with the gold I got." This was a convenient solution. With the way that the woman reacted, the gold of YGGDRASIL was apparently worth a lot.

"Wise choice. Wait right there and I'll be back with some silver." She told me before leaving me and entering a room behind the counter. It took a few moments, but she came back with a small canvas bag that jingled in her hands.

She set it on the table and I reached over and picked it up before inspecting the contents of the bag. Inside were silver coins with a cruder design than my gold coin. They were imperfect circles that I might reasonably guess were hammered out from a small block of metal.

I tied the bag to my belt and looked up to the woman who was setting a book onto the counter. "This is what you'll need to read aloud to me. I'll pick a random passage of the book, and you'll tell me what it says."

"Do you switch up books when you administer this test? I'd assume that there might be some examinees who try to memorize what a book says instead of learning to read." I wondered aloud.

"We do. Everyday we use a different book to prevent that type of cheating." I nodded in acceptance and she opened the book at a random page before pointing to one of the paragraphs.

"As Selena walked to the bedroom of her lover, she believed that Lord Bosco would be ashamed to know that she was secretly carrying the child of her paramour, Tristan. If the Lord were to ever find out he would surely have Selena executed on the spot for adultery, and Tristan would soon follow by being drawn and quartered. If she hadn't been so unfaithful to her Bosco, then none of this would be a matter to be worried about. She strip-" The book was quickly closed by my examiner who was looking a bit hot under the collar. That slightly shocked me since the book seemed interesting.

"Sorry for that book, I think that one of the workers here accidently mixed up their private collection with ours." She glared at a woman working on another section of the counter who had was trying to innocently look away.

"I didn't mind that book. It actually seemed like an interesting read." I stated. I was surprised that I wanted to read more of that book. Maybe it was due to me not knowing what had happened before, or what was going to happen after in that book.

"R-Really? You can keep it if you really want to read the rest," She said in surprise, then she added, "and you also passed the test with flying colors."

I grinned hearing this. "That's great. Anything else I need to know about the guild before I'm completely registered?"

"Yes, but first I'm going to need your name."

"Kashia Blanc." I answered. At this rate, I was going to be in charge of this guild in no time at all. Though, this did make me wonder how powerful the people in this world were. Could they use magic up to the 11th Tier, otherwise known as Super-Tier? I'd have to find out later once more information was available.

"Miss Blanc, hello?" I was shaken out of my thoughts by the worker calling my name. I noticed that the worker had brought out a book which she had written my name in, next to that of what I assumed were other guild members.

I focused my eyes back on her face and answered, "Sorry, was just thinking. What did you want to tell me?"

"I was just going to say that I registered your name in our member-registry. It'll take some time before you get logged into the registries of other guild halls across the country. Still, as a starting member, you'll be ranked as a copper-plate adventurer until you are judged worthy for a higher rank." As she said this, she pushed a small rounded metal plate of copper with a leather cord connected on each end towards me.

It reminded me of a dog tag used in the military.

Picking up the metal plate, I rolled it over through my fingers and then placed it around my neck. I noticed how the cord put pressure on my long hair, I'd need to get used to this long hair, or else cut it to a more manageable length. I pulled my hair out of the leather cord and let it fall once more against my back.

"Does rank mean anything, and if so, what are the ranks?" I pondered aloud.

"Rank is meant to show what level of jobs you are allowed to take. There are eight ranks altogether starting from copper-plate and ending with adamantite-plate. As a copper-plate, you'll only be able to choose jobs of that level of difficulty until you earn a higher rank." The worker explained.

I could understand the reasoning; the rank system was meant to protect the underqualified from marching to their deaths. I just hated that I was probably overqualified compared to all the people in this building and yet I still needed to do grunt work. This just reminded me of all the RPGs I played in which I could have saved the world, killed gods, and even been a king, but the NPCs would still mock me and asked me to kill some rabbits in their garden.

This was no fair.

"What would your hardest job in the copper-plate rank be?" I asked, hoping that I wouldn't have to go out and kill some bears for their pelts.

"Right now, we have two jobs that many copper-plates are unable to perform. One would be to clear some of the undead that have been gathering up in E-Rantel's graveyards, the other would be to get rid of a small band of goblins nearby the woods of E-Rantel." She answered as she placed two sheets of paper onto the counter with full descriptions of the jobs.

"Great, I'll take them both." I replied. Using **[Fly]** and **[Teleportation]**, I'd probably be able to finish these jobs in within the day. The worker had an expression of surprise at my announcement.

"Are you certain about this? Either one of these jobs is quite difficult for copper-plates to accomplish, let alone both!" I took both job sheet off the counter and gave the woman a toothy grin.

"Then it's a good thing that I know I can do this. I'll be back by the end of the day." I replied before walking away with as much confidence as I could muster. When I had finally left the guild hall, I took a glance at the sheets to check out the rewards that I would be receiving.

18 copper for the undead, 24 for the goblins…18 measly copper and 24 for these supposedly difficult jobs. What the hell? YGGDRASIL paid more for jobs like this. This amount of payment was an outrage!

Sighing aloud, I realized that I would be doing grunt work until I ranked up. Better get it done now instead of later. Thankfully I remembered the places on the map that Durrin showed me, and the graveyard took up a large portion of the map in the outer ring of the city. Really made me wonder why that was? How many people died here a year to justify a graveyard of that size?

Who cares, I needed to get these jobs done.

* * *

It took me about thirty minutes of walking until I reached the gate overlooking the cemetery. Multiple guards manned the walls, while some walked about trying to act busy. The large wooden gate was closed shut, while two guards were posted in front of it.

"Hey, mind letting me through?" I asked the two guards.

"Miss, the cemetery is closed for now until the adventurers we hired come to clear it out." He answered in a gruff tone. I rolled my eyes at the reply.

"Yeah, I know. You guys hired me to do your job for you." I replied. Both guards took a good look at me, before giving each other a glance. Then they broke out into laughter. I could feel my eyebrow twitch in irritation at their blatant disrespect.

"Right, could you tell me where the real adventurers are, because we need actual adventurers to take care of this job, not a girl pretending to be one. This job is a bit dangerous for adventurers that can't handle it." The guard on the right, a man with more beard than face, replied. My right eye was twitching now. I don't know if that is healthy, but I was getting too pissed off to care.

"Oh, really? I didn't realize that I, a lone female adventurer, couldn't handle a job that a couple of guards were too scared to do themselves." The two guards stopped laughing when I said this. "Great, now that you are starting to take me seriously, I need you two to open the gate so that I can do my job." _These males are pissing me off_.

"Lady, it's amusing that you think you can handle the undead out there, but you can't. You don't have a single weapon on you, and your outfit couldn't stop a breeze, much less a sword strike. Either go home and get actual gear or get some real adventurers." The beard man answered. Then he gave a quick glance at my body and grinned, "Else, you could also stay by and help me in other ways. I'm certain that a reward could be offered."

Okay, now he's done it. I was planning to originally just use a few lower tier spells to handle the undead here. Fuck subtlety! Now, I'm going to show him how strong this 'weak girl' really was. I'm a fucking _woman, not a damn girl!_

"How many undead would you say that you wanted cleared for this request?" I asked calmly. I could feel my tails writhing with my rage.

"Can you not take the hint, we aren't letting you into the cemetery!" Beard guard said with an annoyed tone.

"All of them it is. One moment. **[Fly]**." I said as my feet left the ground. I slowly floated in the air and above the wall, below me the guards seemed quite shocked. Good, their jaws would hit the floor after my next trick.

Looking over the wall, I spotted a large congregation of skeletons gathered together. Each wielded a weapon, and all of them were patrolling the area, probably in search of living victims.

This was what everyone was worried about? I killed single groups that size when grinding, how was this even difficult? Raising my hand in the air, I decided that a 6th-Tier spell would shut those two guards up. "**[Incineration Bomb]**!" I shouted as an orb of super-condensed flame that was reminiscent of a sun grew to life within my hand.

Then, I tossed the spell down at the skeletal congregation. It took a second to impact the middle of the group, but when it did, the ball rapidly swelled to devour the skeletons around it, then the orb exploded and sent a small wave of fire that turned the surrounding area into ash. The only things still standing after that attack were the tombstones that had been turned into magma that pooled onto the charred earth.

Floating back down to the two guards, I glanced at both with a bored look. "Job's done. Where do I get paid?" I asked as nonchalantly as possible. The guards in the area all had dropped jaws at what just occurred.

Finally, one of the guards on top of the wall spoke up. "P-Payment i-is waiting a-at the g-guild." He answered. I smiled at the man with sincerity.

"Thanks." Then I looked back at the two guards that hassled me. Both had jaws open wide enough to catch flies. "Next time don't assume that appearances are everything." With that, I turned away and used my **[Teleport]** spell to arrive in front of the Adventurer's Guild.

One job down. Another to go. After that, I needed a place to stay, probably at an inn somewhere. Hopefully the goblin job wouldn't take that long to finish.


	2. Chapter 2

**Vulpine Spanner in the Works  
Chapter 2: Big Bad World**

The level of shock that the guild worker had when I came back after finishing the first job was both hilarious and satisfying. She probably expected me to take hours to just finish one job, not just forty minutes. If I had actually used my spells to arrive at the cemetery, I'd probably have gotten the job done within ten minutes. Either way, the woman paid me with money that the guards had deposited at the guild when they created the job in the first place. The worker had been kind enough to tell me that not all of our clients did that, so I needed to make sure to check in with my client after finishing each job just in case.

I was just happy that the guards left the money at the guild since it would've ruined whatever amazing reputation I had started to gain if I walked back to those assholes and asked for my paycheck. Considering how they were massive dicks in the first place, they'd probably try to get something out of me before being paid, at least the stupid ones would.

My next job to complete was dealing with goblins in the nearby forest. Only problem; I had no idea which nearby forest or where a forest could be nearby this city. I needed to get a map soon, otherwise I might get a reputation for being chronically lost. And judging on the way people acted around me, having the reputation of an airhead would severely hinder me, even if I could cast the highest level spells.

That's another thing that was on my mind. Apparently, people could cast spells here, at least from what I've seen and heard, but I didn't know if they were like the spells of YGGDRASIL or something entirely different. Even moreso was the reaction of the guards when I used two of my spells. **[Fly]** is just a 3rd Tier spell and **[Incineration Bomb]** is a 6th Tier spell. The way that all those men were giving me bugeyes, it was almost like they'd never seen a spell like that in their lives. This either meant that magic was slightly rare here and seeing that there was a Magician's Guild in this city that made that idea highly doubtful, or the spells in this world were much weaker in level compared to the ones I could cast. I was thinking option two as the more likely scenario, but I needed more information about this world before I could truly believe it.

Pushing all of these thoughts to the side, I spoke to the guild worker, "Could you please tell me where this forest is? I don't know the area around E-Rantel as well as I'd like, and you probably do." The worker was brought out of her shock and nodded before reaching under her counter and pulling out a roll of parchment. She set it down and unrolled it to reveal a map of E-Rantel and the area surrounding it.

Pointing south of the city at a dark splotch, she answered, "The forest you're looking for is here. You can get there by walking out the front gates of the city and taking the middle path of the three main ones. It'll only take fifteen minutes of walking before you reach the area of your destination. Other than that, I'm not sure where the goblin band is. What I do know is that they waylay travelers on that road and take any valuables that they have before disappearing back into the woods."

Great, monstrous highwaymen. If this job was like those of YGGDRASIL, then it would be one of the dullest tasks that I've ever accomplished. The only reason that I ever killed highwaymen after level 20 in YGGDRASIL was when I needed some quick and easy gold. Other than that, I avoided them like the plague since they gave too little experience and lacked any type of fighting style that could actually engage me. I will admit, it was extremely hard to even get near me due to magic, but they could at least have the decency to put up some sort of fight that didn't leave me feeling bored of swatting flies.

"Thanks for the help." I said just as I was about to leave until I stopped and turned back, "Just wondering, do you have another map that I could take with me? I'm worried that I might still get lost."

"Of course. Would you like a map of the city, the area around the city, or just that of the kingdoms?" She asked me. That certainly surprised me that she had that many options, but it was convenient.

"I'll take them all." I answered.

"It'll cost you two silvers for all three." She answered. Seems expensive for a map, but it would have to do. I needed to learn the exchange rate of the currency here, else I might get screwed over at a later time. Reaching into my coin pouch, I pulled out two of the silver coins and set them on the table. The guild worker handed me three separately rolled up maps in exchange and I took them. I'd drop them into my inventory at a later time since I had no idea if being able to reach into an abyss to get items is normal here. I probably shouldn't have used such a high tier spell in front of those guards earlier, but they just pissed me off so much that I needed to do something.

"I wish you good luck on your job." The woman stated with a smile.

"I don't need luck on my side to finish a job like this. I'll be back soon enough." I answered before walking away. I needed to get this job done and then get to an inn. I think I saw one earlier nearby down the street, so I'll head over in that direction after I take care of some goblins.

As I walked towards the doors of the guild, I could hear more whispering directed at me. Much of the hushed discussions were about the same things as before, but now a few adventurers were wondering how I finished my job so quickly. Some were even wondering if it was a hoax, while others found it to be a hint of my competence.

Either way, I needed to continue finishing these easy jobs as fast as possible so that I could be seen as a serious adventurer, or would it be adventuress considering my gender now? This was going to bother me all day at this rate.

Pushing open the doors of the guild, I stepped out into the street and made my way to the front gate of the city. I could use **[Teleport]**, but I needed to memorize the layout of the city which worked best when I could walk through it. That didn't mean I could just **[Teleport]** back to the guild after the job was done.

That did bring up another question about the spell in general. Did **[Teleport]** make sure that I didn't end up in spaces already occupied by another object, or did it just drop me exactly where I want without care that I could end up merged into whatever was at my destination? I was going to need to test this, since unlike the game, I wasn't sure what the true limits of my magic here were.

While walking down the street, I quickly spotted the sign of the inn that I had seen earlier. I'd remember this place after I finished the goblin job since I needed a place to sleep. And, looking down at myself, I would also need a bath since I probably smelled terrible after walking all day.

Investigating my new body while cleaning myself off was going to be an uncomfortable experience in and of itself. That was even if there existed a bathroom in this world. I didn't know if this place was completely in the dark ages and lacked toilets and bath tubs.

My other option was to find a pond and throw a few fire spells into it to heat the water up. It would have to be a small pond so that I could avoid destroying an ecosystem besides that of the pond.

Another moment of clarity hit me at these thoughts. Did this world have the printing press? If it didn't, I would have a license to print money with all the written texts that could be created from it. And, being the inventor of a printing press in this world would earn me an immense amount of prestige. I would put this idea on my to do list.

Enough time passed as I once again made it to the front gates of E-Rantel. I sadly didn't spot Durrin where I had seen him last. I was a little disappointed since Durrin was the first true human interaction I'd had in this world. He may have moved to another post or was off duty. Hopefully I might meet him once again, he seemed like a good guy, even if he had some difficultly talking to me due to my appearance.

Looking at the entrance of the gate, I saw that the amount of people entering the city had shrunk from what it had been earlier. Guess that I had entered the city during the rush hour. Thankfully, it was much easier to leave the city since the guards didn't toll or inspect anyone exiting the city.

I felt my mana as I left the city and found that I still had my ridiculous amount like usual. Keeping my **[Kitsune Illusion]** on for over an hour had barely siphoned any of the huge ocean that was my mana. I was going to keep up this illusion for the foreseeable future.

It just seemed too risky to stay in my true form since I still had no idea how they treated non-humans here, and the roads near the city were well-used which could risk me being spotted by a random traveler. I mean, sure, I had a spell that could erase memories, but it didn't feel right to invade an innocent person's mind like that and steal experiences that they had.

The only unpleasant thing about this disguise was how uncomfortable it felt. Spending so much time in it had been building up the feeling of being squeezed all over. Maybe while dealing with the goblins in the woods, I could discard my disguise for a bit and stretch my tails and ears out.

As I walked down the middle road of the three that the guild worker had told me about earlier, I remembered that I was still clutching the three maps that I had been given earlier. Later tonight after I acquired a room at that inn I had been eyeing earlier, I'd check the maps and see what the layout of the land was.

I stored the three maps into my blackhole that is my storage space and decided that now was a good time to use my new senses to their full potential. Especially since they weren't being weighed down by the loud sounds and overpowering scents of the city.

When I had first begun using my new sense of smell, I had found it odd that my brain could instantly classify what scents my nose was assaulted with. Putting this into practice, that meant that my mind should be able to classify what goblins smelled like.

And so, I started sniffing at the air like a bloodhound while I walked. The scents of plants and animals filtered through my nose, with previous scents of recent human travelers mixing in every once in a while.

The first time my nose picked up the scent of what my brain classified as goblins, I had been walking this road for fifteen minutes. This must be the area the guild worker had been talking about. As I found myself further down the road, the smell of goblins became stronger and more concentrated.

It was hard to describe their scent, like a mix between old leather and a chicken coop. I found it to be unpleasant and hoped that I could end this job as quickly as possible, just to escape this smell.

That was when the sound of grass being trampled filled my ears. After that, leaves rustled unnaturally around me. The smell of goblins grew immensely with the sounds assaulting my ears. If I was just human, I'd probably never have been able to pick up on the unnatural sounds the forest was making, since I now realized that the goblin band had started setting up an ambush for me.

Three options were available for me to deal with this ambush. One option involved firebombing my general area and leaving while both the goblins and forest burned around me. _Boring_. The next option would be diplomatic, and I could convince the goblins to stop their thieving ways, or I would intimidate them into doing so. _Not enough action_. My third option was to mess with the goblins by doing something completely unexpected._ They'll never see it coming_.

If I was going to mess with the goblins, I'd have fun doing it.

I began yawning as I stretched my arms out. "Man, I'm tired after today. I think I've done enough walking to last a lifetime." I remarked aloud as I walked towards what looked like a comfortable tree and sat down with my back against it.

"Humans this stupid?" I could hear a voice whisper from the brush on the other side of the road. It didn't sound that intelligent to be honest.

"Then robbing has been great idea. Wonder how well she can work?" Another voice, much squeakier than the first, answered with some glee.

"Boho, Pakum, be quiet," A gruffer voice whispered harshly, "the human is going to fall asleep soon. This'll be easy pickings." This one seemed smarter than the two, it even spoke in complete sentences.

"Muap, what we do?" Another asked.

"We wait a few minutes until the human is deep asleep. Then, we'll sneak over and capture her. After we have her valuables, we can do whatever we want with her." The goblin called Muap answered. If that was their entire plan, then I'd love to see what their backup plan was. Either way, I shut my eyes while leaving them open enough to get a small sliver of vision.

I wanted to test a theory I had about my illusion, so I willed one of my tails to swipe at the ground. A smile almost graced my face when I saw some of the dirt get swiped to the side. So, even though objects could pass through the areas where my tails used to be, I could nullify some of the intangibility at will to still move objects with them.

That was very helpful.

After testing this trick out by making some areas of grass get flattened by my invisible tails, I heard Muap whisper, "It's been long enough, boys. Sneak over to her quietly." The goblin ordered. A few affirmations by the goblins, and they all started sneaking out of the brush.

These goblins looked different than the ones from YGGDRASIL. For one thing, these goblins looked smaller and uglier than the goblins I remembered. Another was that a few of the goblins in the group were much taller, almost like that of a short human. I had a reason to believe that these tall goblins were actually hobgoblins, since in YGGDRASIL, hobgoblins were bigger than their cousins.

I spotted two goblins carrying bundles of rope as they trudged over to me. The way they walked as if walking on eggshells almost made me laugh as I decided to test the waters of their reaction.

When I went to lay down on my side with my head resting on my arm, I saw all the goblins freeze as if in panic. A few moments later a hobgoblin, wearing a red bandanna and a chainmail shirt a size too big, put a finger to his lips and then continued sneaking forward.

Right when he was within reach of my tails, I set one in front of his feet and watched in amusement as he tripped over it and fell onto his face. He quickly hissed in pain as he attempted to push himself off the ground. A few of his cohorts snickered at his clumsiness.

As he almost got back onto his feet, I sent another tail to swipe at the back of his feet, and I had to contain myself as the hobgoblin fell onto his ass with a reddened face.

"You clumsy, Muap." A goblin whispered loudly as the others chuckled quietly. Muap picked himself back up before walking over to the goblin and slapping him on the side of the head. The goblin was about to shout in anger, but Muap covered the goblins mouth with his hand and put a finger to his lips. He quickly gave said goblin a death glare before turning his attention back to me with that same glare. This was starting to turn into a slap-stick comedy at this rate.

Once again, he walked forward, but this time he was joined by a hobgoblin. As the two got near me, I snaked my tails across the ground and tripped the two sneaking hobgoblins once again. This time, I followed it up with to of my tails smacking the backs of their heads as they hit the ground.

Both hobgoblins moaned in pain as they laid on the ground. It also didn't help that I set two of my tails onto their backs so that they couldn't even push themselves up if they wanted to.

"What is going on? How are we being so clumsy?" The hobgoblin asked.

"No idea. This ain't natural." Muap replied. He made an attempt to get up once again, but his struggles were in vain as my tails firmly held him down. "I can't get up!" He whispered loudly.

"Neither can I!" Replied the other hobgoblin. "What's going on?" When the hobgoblin said that, the four other goblins crept over to their allies and tried to help them get up. Not even working together could their strength beat the force my tails were exerting.

I took this as a chance to swipe the legs of a few more goblins out from under them, then I'd rest another of my tails onto their fallen bodies and prevent them from getting back up. Hilariously enough, the other goblins seemed too invested in attempting to lift the hobgoblins back up that they didn't notice as their other comrades were tripped and held down.

After capturing the final goblin, I watched with a great amount of mirth as they squirmed on the ground, completely oblivious to my tails holding them down. "How is this happening? Is this human a mage?" Muap wondered in confusion.

I flicked my eyes open at the question and gazed a Muap with a smile on my face. "Well, you were half right on that guess." I answered. Muap and his comrades froze at hearing my voice before looking at me.

"You were awake the entire time!" Muap said in surprise.

"Very. And earlier, what was it that you were going to do to me after you finished robbing me? I'd like to know since it seemed quite important." I asked the goblin. Now that I thought about it, with how strong my tails are, and how weak these goblins have shown themselves to be, I could easily crush them if I wanted to. _Their lives are held in the palm of your hand_.

Frankly, I should probably kill them since all these goblins are bandits. But, from what they had just shown me, they were quite pathetic. The only reason that these goblins ever got this far must have been because they attacked unprepared travelers or small groups. I highly doubted that if they encountered anyone with decent martial skill, they'd be able to fight them.

"We were gonna let you go after we took your goods." Muap answered.

"But I thought you's wanna bring next woman to camp to work for us?" A hobgoblin asked in confusion. Muap's eyes widened in terror as he looked at the goblin that had just spoken.

"Larha, you moron!" Muap shouted at his comrade. My eyebrow rose as I heard this. They wanted me to work for them, and do what exactly?

"What was it that you were going to have me do?" I probed at Larha. The goblin grinned for some reason when I asked him.

"Muap thought's camp dirty and food tasted bad, so we's bring next woman we find to do what we's want!" Larha answered happily. I cocked my head at the reply as I let this information roll through my mind.

"Let me get this straight, besides robbing travelers on the road, what you want is a woman who will cook, clean, and take care of you?" I summarized quickly. The goblins and hobgoblins looked at one another, then back to me before nodding. Were they after a nanny or something?

"If other goblins know we have human working for us, then they want to join and our group get larger." The goblin who's name I think was either Boho or Pakum stated. That plan seemed a little complicated for these goblins, what with how I barely had to work at defeating them.

"It was my plan." Muap sighed in annoyance. "We aren't that good at fighting, and a lot of us aren't very smart. I figured if word got out that we had a human working for us, then other goblins, hobgoblins, and maybe if we were lucky, some ogres, would want to join our group."

"And what was your plan after you had this large group? Adventurers are in the business of preventing goblins, hobgoblins, and ogres from attacking humans, and a large group of goblin highwaymen would attract a large group of adventurers in return." I asked as I sat back up and rested my back onto the tree once again. I had to brush the bangs in my face out of the way after sitting back up.

"We didn't think that far ahead." Muap admitted, "Our camp is pretty small, and we heard how other tribes can get big if they pay humans money to get tools and supplies." I quickly scanned the group and noticed that most were wearing scraps of stitched together cloth that could be considered as pants. Only two had weapons strapped to their hips, that being Muap, and the other hobgoblin.

Muap was the only one actually wearing armor, and that just consisted of chainmail. I'd guess that all of them were either new to the whole banditry business or had only been waylaying weak-looking targets.

This group was pathetic, and I had absolutely no idea how this mission was labeled as one of the more difficult missions for a copper-plate. I think that guild worker might have been either fucking with me or didn't think I could handle the more difficult missions. I was going to have a long talk with her after all of this was done. Right now, I had to deal with this band of banditry buffoons.

With a sigh, I lifted my tails off the demi-humans and watched as they all got into sitting positions after realizing that the pressure on their backs was gone. "Did you all consider that humans wouldn't want to trade with a group of goblins that have been stealing valuables from travelers? If you kept up your robberies in this area, less people would come near this area, and those that did would probably have hired adventurers to guard them."

"Boss, dis lady is startin' make sense." A goblin said as he looked at Muap. The hobgoblin rubbed the back of his bald head in embarrassment at the remark.

"As I said, didn't think that far ahead. All I do know is that humans trade money for supplies, and the only way to get money is to take it from them." Muap said in frustration. That made me wonder if the humans here had a prejudice against demi-humans.

"And why can't you work for humans to get money? Can't you get a job from them?" I asked. The goblins and hobgoblins looked at one another, and then back to me before they burst out laughing.

"That's a great one! What human would ever hire goblins and hobgoblins for work? You must live under a rock if you would ever believe that humans would want our help!" Muap answered as he tried to rein in his laughter.

"So, humans here do have prejudices against non-humans." I muttered to myself.

"What did you say?" The other hobgoblin asked. I was brought out of my reverie and looked back the hobgoblin.

"Nothing, just talking to myself. Ignore it." I answered, "Now, what is it you want to do with your lives? If you had supplies, would you continue robbing travelers or would you try to become self-sufficient?"

"Robbing you's humans is scary and dangerous." Larha answered.

"I'd rather just be left alone. I'm just here because it's stronger to be in a group than to be alone." The hobgoblin said bluntly.

"Same. Need supplies like hammer and axe to make good camp. Don't have either, haven't robbed humans with either." Boho or was it Pakum answered.

"With brother. No tools, no good camp." The other added.

"We's gots to live somehow. Orcs nearby kill us if we's not strong, and they's hungry. They's very hungry lately." The last goblin said with a shiver. I turned back to look at Muap once again.

All of them had similar reason that was easy enough to understand. They wanted protection from outside threats, and to get protection, they wanted good supplies that could only be acquired from nearby humans, and from what I now know, humans here are prejudiced against demi-humans. That made these goblins desperate to do anything, even if it didn't accomplish much, it was still better than sitting around to die.

I could understand that, and with the way that I beat all six of this group while barely trying, it made me pity them. If they weren't strong enough to even get near me while I wasn't trying, then they were definitely doomed if they went against an adventurer who didn't care about non-humans.

There was only one moral way of solving this quest, and the troubles of the goblins and hobgoblins._ And it would be so amusing_.

With my mind made up, I quickly stood onto my feet and looked down at the group before me. "I've reached a decision on what to do. All of you, stand up and take me to your camp. Then we'll go from there." I said in a commanding voice. The band all seemed surprised at my declaration, some even looked elated.

"You's gonna work for us?" Larha asked.

"We'll figure out what's going to happen once we reach your camp." I answered. Muap was silent as he contemplated what I said. Without a word, Muap stood up and gestured for us to follow. This made the rest of the group stand up and follow after Muap, with two of them, one being Larha, holding my hands as they led me through the brush across the road and into the forest.

Through a maze of trees and plants, all of which had many areas a small being could hide, which easily explained why the small group hadn't been caught yet, they just scurried into the woods and had a thousand places to immediately hide from pursuers.

It took us less than five minutes before we went down a small hill and entered a small grassy grove that contained a small scattering of trees that had tents made of sticks and ratty, torn cloth which surrounded a firepit. Nearby this grouping of tents was a small pile of bronze and silver pieces, as well as jewelry, and some clothing. Beyond that was a small pond that seemed decent enough to swim in if it didn't look so dirty, and whose surface didn't even ripple.

Looking back at the grouping of tents, I quickly noticed the garbage strewn around the firepit, as well as the overwhelming smell of urine and feces near the pond.

The goblins excitedly led me to the firepit and had me sit down on a soft cloth bundle that had been arranged as a seat. Taking everything that I've seen into account, these goblins needed walls beyond just the natural barrier of trees and foliage that hid their camp, shelter that didn't look like it was about to fall apart from a light breeze, a method of cleaning their trash, and a clean pond, since I could easily guess that this group used it as a toilet from the smell that exuded from it which also meant that they needed toilets or latrines.

That was just the start. They also needed a farm, an area where they could craft tools, a mill for the trees that they'd need to cut down, and much more that I couldn't think off the top of my head.

It would take a lot of work to turn this area into a decent settlement, and this group of idiots needed help to do so. And this made me want to help them. Not because they were weaker or less intelligent, but because no one else wanted to help them. They said it themselves, humans didn't like them, and would more likely kill them than help them.

It was a classic matchup between an all-star team and a group of underdogs. And I liked helping the underdog win since back home, no one helped the underdogs. The cities in the U.S. were poverty-stricken nightmares that had three types of people. The homeless, the poor, and the rich. Not even the rich were willing to donate their immense wealth to those without, and this created a gap where the rich got richer and more concentrated, and the poor got poorer and could lose everything just by accident.

When I started playing YGGDRASIL to try and get away from the horrors of the real world, I found myself having to claw my way through that game because no one wanted to help the foreigner play the game. They only helped if they wanted something, and that colored my perception of the community in that game.

It was also why I began acting like the legend my character's race was based on. Being the trickster was a lot more fun when you did it to people who deserved it. _They all did_. And when my character became one of the strongest builds in the game due to my perseverance, I felt proud that I climbed that mountain of adversity and beat the odds stacked against me.

Too bad I couldn't do that in the real world. In the real world, life is not based on some programmed rules. The rules constantly shift, and either you live a fair life with all the chances a person should be given, or you end up with an unfair life that is constantly doing what it can to beat you down.

But here, I was strong enough that I could write the rules. For once in my life, I had the power to actually make a difference and help people who truly needed it.

And damn those that say otherwise.

"My first impression is that this place will need a lot of work before it could become a decent settlement." I spoke bluntly. None of the demi-humans were surprised at my statement. "Also, if you were planning on keeping me here captive originally, then what clothes would I have to wear? I can't just stay in these clothes every single day, they need to get washed after all."

"We actually have something from this carriage we robbed. Trabgo, get the clothes." Muap then signaled the other hobgoblin, known as Trabgo, who walked off towards the pile of treasure. "There was this woman, and she had a person working for her who supposedly cleaned and cooked for her. We even heard her say that having a person like that gave her prestige. It's what gave us the idea to get a woman to work for us in the first place."

"And why didn't you capture these two women in the first place? Would've saved you a lot of time and pain then what happened earlier." I asked out of curiosity. Muap looked sheepish before he replied.

"We got the idea a few days after we met them. And we were also beaten horribly by that person who worked for that woman. She even threw a chest at us before both of them ran off." Muap looked dejected when he said this, and I would be too if I had my ass handed to me by what I guessed was a noble woman and whoever worked with her.

"We's got the chest though." Larha added optimistically.

"That we did." Muap nodded in agreement. As he said this, Trabgo came back with a set of clothes that I couldn't help but find humorous, but which also made me exasperated at the clueless nature of the goblins.

In Trabgo's hands was a black and white uniform with a short skirt and a bonnet. To put it into perspective, a bunch of goblins managed to get their asses handed to them by a maid. God damn were these goblins weak.

"How exactly was it that you robbed so many people?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Humans usually get's scared when we appear and give us treasure." A goblin replied.

"Boho, why did you have to say that? Now she'll think we're even weaker!" Muap angrily asked.

"She already beat us. We's already weak to her." Boho replied with a shrug. Muap's eyes rolled as he looked back to me. For an idiot, Boho certainly had a good point.

"He's got a point." I answered. Muap became depressed at my comment which made me feel a little guilty at pointing this out, "Being weak isn't a bad thing," the group looked up at me in confusion, "sure, you might not be able to beat someone in a fight, or be the smartest bunch around, but that doesn't mean that those two weaknesses are all that make up who you are."

"But I'm's the runt of old tribe, how's can I be useful?" Larha seemed sullen as he said this, and I didn't know if it was weird that the sad goblin made me want to pick him up and hug him like a plushy.

I put made hand on his shoulder and gave him a smile, "You're pretty friendly, that a good skill to have. How else would anyone get along if there weren't friendly people like you there?" He looked up at me and gave a smile.

"Really?"

"Really really. That's why I'm going to help you make a working settlement. With my help, and a lot of effort on your part, you'll be an entire village full of goblins, hobgoblins, and even orcs if you want them." I stated. Muap and the others looked at me with excited faces when I declared this, and it made me feel happy that I was at least helping people.

When I said this, Trabgo walked up to me and placed the maid outfit in my lap. "If you are helping us, then wearing Dress of Prestige would give you prestige as well as us. You're the first human we've ever met whose been willing to help out goblins and wearing this would show that to other humans out there." I lifted the uniform off my lap and quickly inspected it. Yeah, I'd need to lose a lot of dignity before I ever put something like this on. _Though, it does look nice_.

I also quickly noticed one flaw of this uniform, "I'd love to wear this," I lied through my teeth with a smile, "but the woman who wore this previously wasn't as well-formed as I was." I said in an apologetic tone as I pointed to the chest area of the outfit.

The goblins were disappointed with my answer but were understanding. "If we were to ever get you an appropriate size would you be willing." Trabgo asked.

"Sure, of course I'd be willing to accept your generous gift if it was fitted." I highly doubted any of these goblins had sewing skills, so I was in the clear probably forever. Time to steer the conversation away from embarrassing topics. Since I'd be working with them, I should also be honest about what I really am. It was also a convenient excuse to finally be rid of this pressure for a while.

"Because we're working together, I think a matter of introductions is need. My name is Kashia Blanc and that I'm not actually a human." I stated as I finally let the illusion hiding my body disperse. The moment I did that, my body felt like it had had the most amazing stretch ever. Kind of like getting a full body massage. My tails curled around me as my ears swiveled and moved. "I'm a kitsune."

The jaws of the goblins all dropped in unison at my whole reveal. The grove was quiet for a while until Larha broke the silence, "You're just like us!" I nodded.

"Yeah, just like you. I'm new to this kingdom, but from what you've told me about your treatment, it's been a good idea that I've pretended to be human."

Muap quickly found his voice and had a large smile on his face, "Even better, with you being as strong as you are and while you work with us, you'll be able to prove to the humans that even us non-humans can be as good as they are." Muap said with a new confidence.

What he said was a good point. If I could become the strongest adventurer in this world, I'd also have supporters and a good backing to reveal my race to the public without the large amount of backlash I'd have if I did it now.

That was a good goal to set, and if I ever did reveal the goblin group's settlement, it might just help them grow even larger due to popularity. These were a lot of thoughts about my future, and I'd only been in this world for a single day. With all these goals, I wondered if I even would want to go back home after finishing all these goals. Staying here just seemed to keep getting better and better.

"And as an adventurer, the higher the rank I get, the more prestige that I'll earn. And if I become the world's strongest adventurer…" I trailed off and let Muap piece it all together.

"You'll show that even non-human can be better than human." I nodded in reply before I stood up and walked over to the pile of loot the goblins collected. In front of the pile was an opened chest that contained more sets of clothing in it. I didn't need clothes from that chest since I could use the spells **[Create Lesser Item] **and** [Create Greater Item]** that could make any piece of clothing imaginable, and with high stats as well.

I'd keep that in mind for later if I ever wanted to get into selling clothing for a business. The store would have to have a good name. That'd come to me later.

"Here's my idea on what to do with this loot. I'll take chunks of this loot back with me to E-Rantel every week and I'll return back here after I use the money to buy supplies for you. That way this money will have a better use than just sitting here collecting dust."

Muap came over and stood by my side as he looked at the loot pile. "Sounds reasonable. We'll get you a bag to carry the money back to E-Rantel. Also, why not bring all the money to E-Rantel to spends it all on supplies at once?"

"It's a risk. People will start wondering where I got such a large pile of money, and then they'll start snooping around and may possibly find this place when they do. And, having such a large amount of money on you at once makes you a target to thieves and people of morally questionable character. It'll be more believable if I show up once a week since then I'll have an excuse that I got a large amount of money from all the jobs that I'll do as an adventurer." I explained it as Trabgo came up to me and handed a small, empty, canvas sack.

"Thanks, Trabgo." I said before I kneeled down to the pile and started scooping bronze and silver coins into the sack. When it seemed full enough, I amazed the goblins by stuffing the sack into my storage space, I just explained it away as magic which in a sense was true enough.

I turned around and looked back at the group of goblins once more. "I'll be coming back tomorrow with a lot of supplies. Do you need anything specific besides axes, hammers, nails, food, and weapons?" I asked the group. The goblins shook their heads while the hobgoblins thought on the question.

"We could use new blankets, the ones we have now are mostly tatters." Muap listed. I nodded and made sure to memorize all the items that I'd just said. I'd have a busy day tomorrow going shopping and doing guild jobs. Before I left, I cast **[Kitsune Illusion]** and immediately started feeling cramped within my own skin.

"See you tomorrow." I said with a wave before casting **[Greater Teleportation]** and disappearing before being placed once more in front of the guild hall of the Adventurer's guild. I smirked as I stepped into the building and walked over to the guild worker.

"Miss Blanc, you're back much earlier than expected! I didn't believe that you finished that first job at first, but when one of the guards came in to vouch for the completion of your task, I was stunned." The guild worker stated.

"I also finished the goblin job a while ago. People won't have to worry about that bandit gang prowling the road anymore." I answered.

"That's great! Do you have any proof of the goblin's destruction?" She asked.

"If you're asking about if I chopped off any body parts as a trophy, then no. That's pretty disgusting. Also, doesn't help that the goblins bodies were obliterated without a trace. If you were asking for body part verification, then you should've told me earlier. As it is, the only trace of proof I have of the goblins existing was this." I set the large sack of coins onto the table and watch as the guild worker's eyebrows shot up.

"W-Well, be sure to remember to bring proof of the body next time. If that's all, then I'll get the reward for the job." She said as she walked away in a slightly dazed fashion. I made sure to pick the sack of coins up off the counter and attach it to my belt. I'd store it away later when I didn't have so many eyes on me.

Less than a minute later and the guild worker came back with a small sack of coins that I picked up. "I think I'll take the rest of the day off to do some errands. I'll be back tomorrow for some jobs, so make sure that these next ones are challenging, the ones I just had to do were pretty boring."

"I'll see what I can do, Miss." The guild worker's smile seemed more like it was painted on than natural at this point, guess there was only enough crazy that she could take in a day.

"See you later." I answered before walking away from the counter. Just as I walked past the stairs, I felt someone topple into me and fall down. What I found funny was how I laid someone on their ass by doing nothing. At least that was another advantage with this body, I was much stronger than when I was still a human.

I looked down onto the ground to see a young man with blond hair a shade darker than mine that was held back by a headband look up at me with brown eyes and a grin on his face. "If I've fallen into an angel, then I must be in heaven. How else could I ever meet one such as you?" That must've been the cheesiest one-liner that I've ever heard, though I was flattered at the sincerity of the attempt.

"Flattery might get you anywhere, but you'll need a bit more to get to me." I answered as I held my hand down to the man. He took it and I surprised him with my strength when I pulled him back onto his feet.

"If there is one thing I regret about meeting with you today, it's that I bumped so callously into such a beautiful woman like you by accident." He said with a wider grin.

"You weren't the only one at fault, I should've been looking where I was going." I apologized, "And if you lay that cheese on any thicker, I might just be able to make a sandwich with it."

He laughed, "Why shouldn't I give such a beautiful creation of the gods the compliments she deserves?" Speaking of gods, I wondered how my race **[Daughter of Inari]** functioned now that my character was real? Did the race only give me the perks and buffs it had or did the goddess Inari actually exist because my character was now real? I feel like I was going to have an existential crisis at the rate these questions kept popping up in my mind.

"I'll give you one thing, you certainly are a natural born flatterer. You also are quite committed and confident in your attempt to romance me." I remarked. The man's posture seemed to become broader as I said this.

"I've fallen for you, both literally and metaphorically, how could I not attempt to win the heart of someone who has taken my heart at first sight? Could you possibly grace me with your name?" I smiled at this, at least I was making more friends.

"Kashia Blanc." I answered.

"A wonderful name. I'm Lukrut Volve, ranger of the silver-plate adventurer team Swords of Darkness." There were teams of adventurers now? This world kept on mirroring YGGDRASIL in certain ways that made it feel so familiar.

"Lukrut, there you are. You took off so fast-" Another blond-haired man said as he came down the stairs with two other adventurers. "Who's this?" The man asked as he gave me a quick glance. Next to him was a large bearded blond man with eyes squinted shut. If this was to guess which role this man had in the group, then I'd believe that this man was their tank. Next to him was a kid with a childish face and short brown hair.

And if it wasn't for my enhanced senses, I would've assumed that this kid was a male from the way they looked and dressed. Luckily for me, I knew otherwise that this kid was female. She was also the only one who didn't have blonde hair for a change.

"Hello, I'm Kashia. I just had the pleasure of accidentally bumping into your friend." I answered. The man, who I assumed might be the leader of this small group due to the way he held himself, looked at Lukrut with an aside glance.

"I hope that Lukrut hasn't bothered you. He can be a little excitable when he's around an attractive woman." He said with a smile. "You must be new here since I've never seen you at the guild before."

"As a matter of fact, I am new. Just got registered today and I already did two of the jobs that were available. And don't worry about Lukrut, he's not been that much of a bother." I replied, before adding, "Though his pick-up lines need more work."

"Two jobs already? You certainly don't waste time. Most copper-plates I've met usually get one job done in a day." His praise at least let me know that I was an exception to the regular slew of adventurers here.

"Well, the jobs for copper-plates are extremely dull. I finished both of the jobs within two hours, and the only real difficulty I had with them was trying to find the areas that they were located in." I really hoped that this guild would up my rank quickly enough, at least then I could take jobs that didn't fell like they were sucking the soul out of me.

"I'd assume that you are pretty strong if that's the case."

"Right on that observation." The man gave a quick glance to his companions before turning back to me with a grin.

"If that's the case, you could join our adventuring group to get better missions. We always have room for more." He offered with a hand held out. I looked down at his hand and rolled the offer around in my head.

I still didn't know much about this world, and even with the goblins and I working together, I doubted that they knew much about the world from the great naivety that they showed me earlier. With these adventurers, I'd be able to get a better knowledge base and learn more about the country I was in, as well as the other countries that surrounded it.

And I needed some friends right now. Playing the lone wolf while in a new world would be a miserable experience. I'd done it once in YGGDRASIL due to being forced to, and that had slowed my ability to learn how to play the game by an immense degree.

And, while I could read a map to know the territories of the new world, I needed people to tell me what the places here were like. So, joining a group would help me in that department. The other reason that joining this group would be a good thing for me is because of how I'd have witnesses for whatever feats I performed.

With my mind made up, I shook the man's hand with mine. "I accept. It'll be a nice change of pace to always adventuring solo." I answered warmly.

"Truly this is fate that we're together on this team. To celebrate, how about I take you on a date?" Lukrut asked with excitement. I rolled my eyes at the blond's declaration. One thing you can say about this guy is that he certainly takes every moment in stride. I wish I had that kind of self-esteem when I tried asking girls out back home.

"Since we'll be working together, we may as well introduce one another. I'm Peter Mauk, leader of our group. He's Ninya, our magic user," Peter said as he pointed to the brown-haired girl. He might not know that Ninya was a girl or he might've been playing along with the ruse. I couldn't tell. "The big guy is Dyne Woodwonder, the druid of our group, and you've already met Lukrut."

Was it weird how Peter had the only normal name in the group? I found it weird. Kashia Blanc wasn't any better, but I made it up on the spot damnit, what excuse did everyone else have?

"Your group seems quite well-balanced." I complimented, "But, Ninya and I are the same in a few regards since we both are magic users." I added. Ninya's eyes lit up when I said this, probably because with both of us being magic users, we could trade information about spells and other magic related skills.

"Great! You hear that Ninya, you'll have someone to talk about magic with now." Lukrut remarked. Ninya blushed when she heard this, and I could help but smirk at her reaction. _She'd be fun to tease._

"You shouldn't be embarrassed, Ninya. You're young and still have much to learn, and I'm sure that you could learn much from Miss Blanc if she's willing to teach you." Dyne said in a sagely tone. No wonder this guy's a druid, I feel like you could listen to an audiobook on proverbs by this guy.

I leaned down slightly so that my eyes were level with Ninya's, "If you do want help with your magic or anything else, I can help you. You just have to ask." I said with a wink. Ninya's face grew a brighter shade of red after I said this.

"We'll be heading off to do some extermination by E-Rantel. You can come if you want to, else you can meet us here in the guild hall tomorrow morning." Peter stated. While I wanted to join the group on whatever exterminating mission they were going to perform, I also needed to get a room at the inn and supplies for the goblin camp.

"Maybe next time. I was planning to do some errands after my last job. I'll see all of you tomorrow." I replied before walking away.

"See you later then." Peter happily said with a smile.

"I'll be counting every second until I see you again!" Lukrut added excitedly. That man was going to be such a lovesick puppy. It gave me so many ideas on how to _tease him._ I could always go on one of those dates with him to get some free food. I was always open for some free food.

* * *

When I stepped into the inn, the first thing I noticed was the smell. It was a musty smell mixed with alcohol. The second was how dimly lit the building was. Only the candles scattered around the room gave any light to this building.

Looking around, I saw tables scattered randomly in different areas of the room, and yet there was a path that zigzagged through the tables and towards the bar at the back. Different people sat at the tables, some had the plate necklaces of adventurers while others didn't.

The moment I stepped into the inn, the conversations that were once loud had softened as the patrons of the inn started sizing me up. I tried to ignore the stares as my heels clicked on the wooden floorboards. My ears picked up the conversations growing around me.

"Wonder who that is?" One man asked.

"Saw her in the guild earlier. Heard she finished one of the tougher copper-plate jobs within an hour." Another answered.

"Anyone competent could finish one of those easy copper-plate jobs. She's likely just some noble girl that wanted to experience the peasant life. Probably will give up after she gets a hard job." The other man scoffed. I felt my eyes narrow as I had to mentally force my tails to not lash out in anger.

Reaching the counter, I looked at the bartender who gave off the feeling of a weary veteran. He had shaved down brown hair, neatly trimmed goatee, and a scar that went down the left side of his face by his eye. Back in my world, I had only met a few people who gave off a feeling like this man. Most had been veterans of the small-scale wars that occurred over resources. All of them had been serious and didn't tolerate bullshit.

"I'd like to get a room here." I stated quickly. The man looked up from the glass he was polishing and gave me his attention.

"Rooms cost five copper coins each. Food is served three times a day, it costs a copper coin for a plate. I have three rules here. Don't destroy my rooms, pay the bills, and don't fuck with me." I shrugged at his demands and reached into the pouch at my belt before pulling out five copper coins that I set onto the counter.

The inn owner took the coins and pocketed them in a pocket on his apron. He reached into another pocket of his apron and pulled out a key that he set where my coins once were. "Your room is 9. Rooms can continuously be rented, but rent is due at the end of the day. Welcome to Hero's Respite, enjoy your stay."

After picking up the key I asked, "When do you serve food next?"

"Dinner will be in two hours. We're serving lamb stew. First come, first serve." He answered.

"Thanks. I'll be back later." What he said did make me think. I'd already missed breakfast, lunch had passed sometime earlier today, and dinner was in two hours. Frankly, I've spent almost a full day here and I haven't even noticed. Guess it's true what they say, time flies when you're having fun.

After getting directions to my room, I found myself standing before a dark wooden door. I unlocked it with my key and stepped into a small yet comfortable room. A bed was placed next to a window that had a view of the town square. In the middle of the room was a table with two chairs while hanging above the table was a lit lamp.

I wondered if the lamp was being powered by magic or if it might have been gas. I got closer to the lamp to inspect it, and I noticed a little knob on the side. Twisting it, the lamp went out, while twisting it the other way turned back on.

I really wanted to say that this was magic, from what I'd seen in this city, they didn't seem advanced enough to make gas-powered lamps, or even be able to harness gas. I took a sniff and found nothing to hint of gas. Until I was proved otherwise, this was probably magic.

Now finished with inspecting the room, I walked over to the bed and let myself plop onto it. It wasn't the best bed that I've ever had, but at least it beat sleeping on straw. I'd guess that it was filled with feathers or cotton. Didn't even come close to my fluffy tails. Then again, I doubted anything could match supernaturally soft fur.

Feeling satisfied with my bed inspection, I got back up walked over to the table and took a seat. With a sigh, I released my illusion and let my tails flop to the floor. The way my body felt stretched after dispelling my illusion still felt just as good as the first time. I sat in that chair for a small while just lounging before I remembered what I wanted to do in the first place.

Sitting back up, I reached into my storage space and pulled out my maps and bags of coins. Then, I opened up all the maps and weighed down the edges with the sacks of coins.

Glancing at the first map, it was the city of E-Rantel. It was labeled with the sections of the city which meant nothing since I'd already visited multiple areas on the map. The only place I hadn't been to was the third layer of the city which housed the wealthy.

I might head there one day to see what mischief I could cause the richfolk. After all the movies I've seen and books I've read about the rich and the poor in medieval-like societies, I've noticed that the rich always seemed to be pompous assholes to anyone below them. Probably not that different here if I were to guess.

Other than that, the city wasn't of much concern since it was small enough that I could figure my way through it quickly enough, and I had a team of adventurers that could tell me where areas in the city were located. I rolled the map up after giving it one final inspection and placed it back into my storage.

The next map was one that I could really use. On it were multiple cities and kingdoms of this new world. Right now, I was in the Re-Estize Kingdom that was bordered to the east by the Baharuth Empire, the south by the Slane Theocracy, west by the Roble Holy Kingdom, and north by the Argland Council State.

Immediately, I already got bad vibe just from reading the name of the Baharuth Empire. They just sounded like an evil fantasy empire that wanted to conquer the entire world. Slane Theocracy made me think of zealots. Roble Holy Kingdom I wanted to say were maybe crusaders. And if the Argland Council State didn't have a lizardman or some type of being that had scales, I'd eat my own shoes.

At the very least, the Dwarves Kingdom was quite open about what they were. It was in their name after all. And considering that they were bordering this kingdom and the Baharuth, I had reason to believe that they must have incredible defenses to hold off either side from conquering them.

The Great Forest of Tob with its Great Lake seemed like an interesting spot north of E-Rantel. I might want to check that area out within this week or next week to see what it had to offer. If I remember correctly, most fantasy stories would talk about hidden treasures within giant forests, and this Great Forest probably had a lot of treasures if the size of it was any indication. Probably high-level monsters as well. It might even give me a small amount of challenge.

Besides this, the Great Lake within the forest might be a nice vacation spot to go swimming. Could even have some hidden treasure as well. Only way that I'd find out is if I went. I'd pin visiting the Great Lake the same day that I explored some of the Great Forest. Most likely, I'd probably fly above the forest to get to the lake.

Considering how I hadn't even been here for a full day, I was planning multiple events that would span over weeks of time. I've been more proactive on scheduling my life today than I've ever been my entire life. Maybe that was a good thing?

If I continue planning at the rate I'm going, I'll have planned out a trip around the entire world within the year. I'll have to save that planning for later. Until then, I need to buy supplies for the goblins.

That was when my stomach began rumbling. I looked down and groaned in annoyance at my body betraying me. Guess that was another reason for this body being real, I felt a large amount of hunger that I normally shouldn't. All this meant was that I'd need to get food. And unfortunately, dinner at the inn was going to be served in two hours.

Unless I had the strength of will to wait for dinner, I would need to head out and find a restaurant.

Sighing, I leaned back in my chair and let my mind wander. Decisions, decisions, I certainly was in for a lot of hard work. Hopefully it would get easier in time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Vulpine Spanner in the Works  
Chapter 3: Some Adventuring May Be Required**

**Day 3:**

I yawned as my eyes opened to the dark ceiling above me. The window next to my bed allowed the sun to shine into my room and thankfully wasn't high enough in the sky yet to shine into my face. It was almost tempting enough to go back to sleep and wake up later, but I sadly had to get down to business immediately.

Pulling the covers off my body I stepped out of bed and stretched my arms and tails before sauntering over to the table in the middle of my room. The wooden floors felt cold on my bare feet, and my underwear did little to block the cold from my body. The only other thing I was wearing was a black choker with a glowing red jewel in it.

It was one of my prized possessions; a World Item. I had gotten that from my own hard work, as well as from being extremely lucky when the item had finally dropped. It wasn't the flashiest item, but it had an extremely useful ability that synchronized with my class.

My World Item was called the Seed of Yggdrasil. A slightly pretentious name for an item that stores mana and refunds that mana as extra non-resistant damage for a player's next attack. What made the item one of the broken parts of YGGDRASIL was that it had no storage limit for how much mana it could hold. And since I had a continuous regeneration of mana, I'd been storing part of the percentage of mana I regenerated into the Seed.

The only downside to the item was that when it was used, all the stored mana inside it was used at once. And, considering the staggering amount of mana I had stored into the item, it was a guaranteed one-hit kill.

I used that World Item the most of the three I had. The second item was one that I kept in my inventory as a last resort. The final World Item was stored away in a very difficult to reach location. It did make me wonder if I could still access that area from this new world.

Another thing to add to my to do list.

Of those three World Items, I'd only ever gotten the Seed of Yggdrasil through honorable means. The other two items had been pilfered from a player and a guild respectively. Normally, a player in possession of three World Items was a blue moon. The only reason why I'd been able to get the other two was due to gaining my first World Item and then getting my **[Daughter of Inari]** racial class.

The reactions of the players when they lost their World Items was one of my best experiences in YGGDRASIL.

I quickly shook myself out of my reminiscing and made it over to the table where I pulled out a chair and sat down on it. The wood of the chair was surprisingly not that cold on my ass which was a pleasant surprise. I then looked down at the three bags of coins I had in this kingdom's currency. I took the time to separate all the coins in each bag into separate piles that I counted up.

What my total came down to was 122 copper coins combined from both the jobs I did as well as from the money pile of the goblins and trading the gold coin in. 268 silver from trading in the gold coin and the goblin hoard.

From what I've seen about food and lodging, I could probably buy much of the supplies I needed for the goblins today and still have much left over for the next day. Preferably, I would start the goblins off with simpler tools and weapons before giving them enchanted items. That way, I wouldn't have to worry about them accidentally killing each other or burning the forest down.

I'd work up from there. After shopping for the goblin supplies, I would probably investigate some of the other stores to see if there were any that I could use my skills to profit from. My Alchemist class allowed me to create amazing potions which I mainly used to heal myself or buff my attacks or defense.

Besides alchemy, I also had healing spells and the ability to create and enchant items. Sadly, that was most of my simple crafting abilities that weren't too ridiculous. The only other abilities I had that I could make a profit from involved massive terrain augmentation and other large-scale spells. It was at a time like this that I was a little annoyed that I didn't know more recreational spells.

What I did wonder, now that I was in this new world, is if I no longer had a cap on learning new spells? If that was the case, then I could definitely learn the spells of this world which I would guess were more utilitarian in nature due to the realism here compared to a game world.

I would need to research this more thoroughly later, probably at the Magician's Guild as well as from Ninya. Which reminds me that I need to meet with the adventuring group soon.

This is when I got up from my chair and walked over to the dresser where I had set my clothes from yesterday and began the process of putting my divine items on. That was strange to me at first when I didn't have any trouble putting my clothes on or taking them off last night, but I just wrote it off as a convenient quirk of this body.

Where I might once have felt a modicum of embarrassment at seeing my new naked body, I didn't anymore. Most of that had been in part because of how I had taken some time last night to investigate this new body of mine. I'll admit with some pride that I've got a great pair of tits and an ass that won't quit.

It took less than a minute to put the rest of my clothes on, pull the collar of my dress over the choker I was wearing, and slid my boots onto my feet. I figured out why women love to wear high heels so much, I gain so much height from putting them on. Normally, my character is 5'9", but these boots make me almost 5'11". Still didn't compare to my height in the other world where I was over 6 feet tall.

Taking some time to look in the mirror in my room, I started to comb the hair on my head with my nails, which still could be felt through the gloves I wore, until my hair didn't have the bedhead that I'd woken up with. The long hair wasn't acting as much like a hindrance as I thought it would, but it needed to get held back to avoid getting into my eyes during a fight. Maybe I'd learn to braid it, until then I'd just tie it back into a ponytail.

After my thorough grooming of the hair on my head as well as that of my tails, and putting my hair up into a ponytail, I put my pair of glasses on, activated my **[Kitsune Illusion]**, and walked over to the table with my money on it. I dumped 30 silver and 50 copper coins into a pouch and walked out of my room before locking the door behind me. After that, I walked downstairs to the bar where I saw the innkeeper, whose name I found out last night is Morgan, was busy cleaning some dishes.

Taking a seat at the bar counter, Morgan's eyes flicked up to me before going back down to the mug he was cleaning. "What can I do for you today, Miss Blanc?" Morgan asked as he set the cleaned mug with a row of other cleaned mugs.

I put on a friendly smile before answering, "Mind serving me some breakfast this morning?" Morgan nodded and walked to the door behind the bar. A few moments later, he came back with a plate of sliced ham and potatoes which he set down in front of me.

"One copper, Miss Blanc." He said while holding out an open hand. I quickly fished out a copper coin and set it into his hand. Morgan set the plate down onto the counter afterwards and gave me a fork to go along with it.

"You don't need to be so formal, just call me Kashia," I told him as I took a bite of the ham. It wasn't bad ham, but the way food preparation here is compared to back home left a bit to be desired. Maybe I could try my hand at cooking here if my other business ideas didn't work out?

Morgan smirked as he pocketed the coin into his apron. "At least you aren't like other adventurers that I've served here. Most of the newbies think they're hot shit until they either get a thrashing or work in the guild long enough."

"Really? And how many times was it that you dealt the thrashings?" I said before taking another bite of the ham. Morgan chuckled at my response as he went back to cleaning his mugs.

"Surprisingly I don't do the thrashings that often. Usually it's the other patrons who beat on the new guys." When Morgan mentioned the other patrons, I didn't even have to turn my head to know that there was no one here at the bar. My ears and sense of smell told me loud and clear.

"Good thing I'm not like other adventurers then." I smirked and gave Morgan a wink when I said this. Then I returned to eating my breakfast once more. Morgan's eyebrow rose up slightly as he looked at me.

"Yeah, good thing, else I would've made you pay more for the room you have." Morgan responded. At least I know I'm on his good side. A few moments later, and I felt my ears twitch as the inn's door opened. I quickly noticed that the shuffling of boots on the floor meant that there were three people, and a quick sniff in the air told me that all three were males, and they all smelled awful.

Did they never take a bath or something?

Unfortunately, the smell didn't leave and instead grew as the three men took a seat at a table behind me. One of the males spoke up, "Old man, mind getting us some ale and food?" I felt baffled at the tone this newcomer had, and I quickly glanced at Morgan who had a stony expression.

"One moment." Morgan answered as he picked up three of the dirty mugs and gave me a wink before turning around to one of the tapped barrels. When he filled the mugs, I could easily smell how disgusting the drinks were, but I said nothing. As Morgan was filling up the mugs, I listened in on the conversation of the group behind me.

"-guild later today. I need to make some quick cash for some new pieces of armor." One of the men said.

"With the rusted shit that you're wearing now, you need an entirely new set of armor in general." The first man from before stated.

"You shouldn't be saying shit, Luthor. That stinking leather armor of yours smells to high heaven." The other man answered which made all the men at the table laugh. I just rolled my eyes and finished with eating the rest of my breakfast. I didn't want to be in this building any longer with the stench these men were emitting.

When Morgan came back to the bar after delivering the drinks, I left a silver coin on the counter. He glanced down at the silver coin and looked back up at me with a questioning glance. "Use that as payment for my room tonight and keep the change." I told the innkeeper before getting up from my chair and exiting the building.

When I made it onto the bustling streets, I took a deep breath of air that wasn't tainted by the stink of those men. After that, I walked down the street for a while to my first destination; the guildhall.

It only took me a short amount of time, but when I arrived in front of the guild hall, I saw that it was bustling with activity as people were coming and going, much more than yesterday. I assumed that it was due to the way regular adventurers might only be able to complete a job a day compared to my rate of completion.

I wouldn't lie about my interest in what job I'd be doing with my new adventuring team today. Hopefully it would be something less dull than the two jobs I did yesterday. But, thinking about the goblin job yesterday, I realized that I needed to get them their supplies today, which did make me wonder about something…

I looked around and quickly spotted an alleyway that I could duck into. When I believed that I was out of sight of the general public, I cast my spell **[Replicant]** and watched with eager anticipation as a flame split off of my body and quickly formed a complete copy of me.

What I didn't expect was for that copy to gain a large toothy grin as she gave me a once over. "My, my, now that I get a good look at myself, I can admit that we look damn fine." My copy said in a breathy tone as she started stretching her body.

"This is certainly a surprise." I said in interest.

"But not an unwanted one. After all, the **[Replicant]** clone usually has a shitty program that runs it." My clone added. I couldn't say I disagreed with her, after all, I did make a good point.

"I guess this new world adjusts more of my spell effects than what we originally thought." I reasoned aloud. If a spell like this could be given its own sapience, then what did that mean about other spells of mine that summoned other beings? I definitely needed to do more testing of some of my more serious spells first in an isolated environment before I used them in full combat.

"I'm not exactly against this change. All it means is that we'll have an amazing time using the **[Replicant]** spell in battle and daily use." My clone explained before a smirk came across her face as she put a finger under her chin in thought. "Though, I'm a little interested in things that you haven't test out in this new body."

My eyebrow raised at her statement. "As long as whatever it is that you're planning to test out doesn't involve bad publicity, harming innocents or the like, I'm all for it. I can't exactly test everything about this new body today since I'll be with the adventuring group today." My clone nodded in agreement.

"I got it. I am you after all. I'll take care of the goblins as well while you deal with the adventuring party." She answered in agreement. At least she knew the task that I summoned her here for to begin with. I wanted to pull out the money she'd need to purchase the goblin equipment, but I stopped myself when I had an idea.

"I'm wondering, would you be able to access my inventory space?" My clone shrugged before concentrating for a moment. She then stuck her hand into space and pulled out a large sack of coins with a massive grin on her face. "Guess that problem is solved. Before I go, could you do something to disguise your appearance. I don't feel like dealing with questions about why I've been spotted in two places at the same time."

My clone snapped her fingers and was covered in a swirl of light. When it died down, she was now covered in purple hooded cloak and dress. Quickly pulling up the hood, her face was now obscured with only a few golden locks of hair being visible besides everything below her nose.

"Better?" She asked. I nodded in reply.

"Good luck with getting the items." I said as I left the alleyway and headed to the guildhall. I saw out of the corner of my eye that my clone had left the alley and was now heading down the opposite direction of the street.

When I finally entered the guildhall, it only took me a few seconds until I heard Lukrut call me from across the room. He and the rest of the adventuring group were all sitting together and most likely waiting for me to show up. I appreciated that from the group, after all, we hadn't even known each other for an hour and they seemed to very considerate.

It was weird to have possible friends, but I'd have to see how this would turn out before I could truly label them anything. So, to not delay the group any longer, I quickly made my way over to them with a smile on my face. "Morning. What's the plan for today?" I asked while taking a seat between Lukrut and Ninya.

Peter was the first to speak up, "Greetings, Kashia, we managed to snag a simple extermination job involving a pack of ogres as well as some goblins. Apparently, they've been building up around a few farms by E-Rantel and it's become quite a problem." Peter answered excitedly.

I could understand why a job like that would be important, and most likely pay quite well. Cities thrived on their ability to be defendable and to be able to feed those that lived within it's territory. If a city ran out of food from outside farms, then the stored food supplies for winter, droughts, and sieges would be quickly used up.

There were similar occurrences like that in YGGDRASIL. I remember a top-tier guild whose claim to fame was their pure monopoly on a mine that had extremely rare ore. When an enemy guild managed to take over that mine, the other guild quickly fell apart without any income.

I had been working with the enemy guild at the time since they promised me help against one of the bosses I needed to fight. I also got to keep some spoils from that raid, so it was a win-win situation for me. Though, I did feel a little sorry for that guild. Heard their guild leader quit after that, but then again, it may have been a lie.

Regardless, this city depended on the food that it could receive, though why the guards weren't coming out to help these farms was a complete mystery to me. I can only assume that it's because they're lazy, I mean, why else would they have hired me to clear out that graveyard for them when they were perfectly capable to do it themselves?

Damn cowards…

Honestly, I could easily wipe this city off the map if I wanted to. From what I've seen of this place as of now, it didn't seem like their magic defenses were that powerful.

"Sounds like it'll be an interesting job. Any specifics about these ogres and goblins that have been attacking farms?" I asked Peter. He gave me a slightly angry look.

"They've been eating the farmers as well as the crops. Right now, there has been a pattern to these attacks." He quickly pulled out a map and unfolded it onto the table so that I could get a clearer view. Then, he pointed to an eastern farm near E-Rantel.

"It started from here. Since then, the ogres and goblins have been moving from the eastern farms to the southern farms." He then pointed to a southern farm near the woods that I'd encountered the goblins yesterday.

Oh, shit. The goblins were talking about the ogres being extremely voracious recently, but now I had proof. Hopefully the goblin group would be safe in their hidden glade until my clone arrived. I seriously doubted that they could handle fighting ogres and other goblins that were so blatant to be raiding farms near a city.

I nodded in understanding to Peter. "Any description on the number of ogres and goblins in this raiding band?"

"Six ogres and eight goblins from the last count. It may have changed since then." This would be child's play for me. I could easily clear out the entire group with one spell, but I did wish to see how my new team would do in a fight, so I may hold back a little bit.

"Sounds like fun. We ready to go?" I responded with a grin. This was going to be a simple task for me to accomplish.

"Certainly, beautiful. We were just waiting for you." Lukrut answered. I wondered if that man would ever run out of compliments…_Maybe I should do something for him_. Dinner, definitely dinner!

"At least I know I'm wanted." I teased back.

Lukrut laughed at my response, "You'll always be wanted in my heart, Kashia." The blond said with that exaggerated over the top tone that I was beginning to get used to. He'll land a girlfriend one day with that confidence of his, I'm sure of that.

"Of course, I will." I said before turning my attention to Peter, "How much will this job be paying us?"

"A hundred silver. Twenty for each of us when we split it. Is there an issue?" Peter asked with some concern. I wasn't sure if it was because he thought I wouldn't be up for a job that would only give me twenty silver. I better alleviate his fear now, so he won't have to worry.

"Not at all. Twenty silver is a hell of a lot more than what I got paid doing my last two jobs." I said with a disarming smile. This seemed to calm Peter's fears a bit as he gained a smile as well.

"Good thing you decided to join up with us then." Dyne added in a friendly tone. "Copper-plates barely make enough money to go through a day of food, supplies, and an inn. They usually resort to taking multiple jobs because of it."

The large man then pointed to Ninya, who seemed to shrink from my attention on her, "Ninya was almost homeless because he could barely afford the rent for his room."

"What changed?" I asked completely curious.

"I saw Ninya at the guild one day and decided to talk to him. He was shy at first, but I eventually found out that he was a mage. Since our group needed a magic user, I invited Ninya to join us." Dyne explained. Though, that didn't exactly explain how splitting up the measly pay of a copper-plate job could allow any of them to survive.

I let my question be known, and Lukrut was quite eager to answer it, "Originally, all four of us would each individually take a job. Afterwards, we'd meet up at the guildhall with our pay and put it into a pot. We'd split it based on who had the greatest need. When we all became silver-plates, that changed since the pay got a lot better."

"Sounds like all of you are very close-knit." I remarked.

"Very." Peter replied, "We've been together long enough that I couldn't imagine doing a job without these three watching my back." I nodded in understanding before standing up from my chair. The other quickly followed my lead when I did this.

"If that's the case, I hope that I'll be able to earn your trust, and you, mine. Shall we get going?"

"Ready when you are." Dyne answered happily. I couldn't put my finger on why, but that big, bearded man seemed like a giant teddy bear. He was the opposite of Lukrut's high energy and youthful spirit, with how he was calm and at peace with everything around himself. It made me want to become good friends with him.

Lukrut was quite easy to read. He was an excitable man who had an avid interest in the opposite sex as well as a lust for adventure. Even with the playful nature of his, I could see an intelligence in his eyes. And there couldn't be a doubt that he had an intelligence about him, if not based on academic subjects, then it was invested more in prediction of movement on the battlefield.

After all, modern day snipers armed with rifles still had to work on predicting where a person was going to move as well as judge the distance, wind speed, trajectory, and many other facets to hit their target. And that was with modern day technology. I was intrigued to see how skilled Lukrut was with that bow of his in an actual battlefield.

Ninya and Peter were still the ones that I hadn't really figured out yet. It was obvious that Peter was a charismatic leader that had managed to keep a diverse group like this together, and yet, he also seemed older than he looked with a sense of justice to match. I would have to see more on his leadership ability before I could fully judge it.

Ninya was the odd one out with how shy and reserved she was. Hiding her gender showed that she had an awareness of the harshness of the world, but if my guess was correct then none of this group knew of her actual gender, then it meant that she was probably worried about how the group might react. Like Peter, I would need to see more before I could make a full assessment of her.

And, maybe I could coax her out of that shell of hers. She'd probably look nice if she cleaned up a bit and dressed in a more feminine style. Also, _I really wanted to see the looks of shock when this group figured out her actual gender_. That would be an event for later, until then, I would just try and build up her confidence a little bit.

I also needed to see if I could teach any of the spells I know to people of this world and vice versa. Ninya would be a good test subject for my curiosity.

* * *

It had been half an hour since we had gotten on the road to the next farm that was to be raided by the ogres and goblins. During this time, I found myself chatting with the group about random subjects. These topics would range from good shops in E-Rantel to politics. I would sit out of the political discussion to listen and gain more knowledge about the country I was in.

From what I'd found out by listening, this kingdom of Re-Estize is ruled by Ramposa III. While the man is a good ruler, he's old and is losing more of his strength every day. His eldest son, Barbro, is apparently an aggressive man who is more headstrong than wise. That made me a little worried since from what I knew of all the fantasy books I've read, a prince like that was more likely to be a warmonger instead of a peacekeeper.

His other son, Zanac, while much smarter than Barbro, is more out of shape and weaker than Barbro. And, from what I know about politics, the stronger a potential candidate seems, the more likely the people are to support them. I had no doubt that if Zanac is as smart as he seems, then he was probably planning to remove his brother from succession of the throne in order to take it for himself.

Besides those two, Ramposa has three daughters, with two already having been married off. The one daughter that still lived in the palace, Renner, is known as the Golden Princess for her kindness to the people and her beauty. _I'm still sexier_. If she is as kind and air-headed as Lukrut made her seem, then it would be a miracle if she wasn't assassinated by her twentieth birthday.

From that, I also learned that Re-Estize also has a continual war with the Baharuth Empire. I didn't know if I should jump in joy at being proven right about the Baharuth being a conquering nation or if I should groan at how obvious it was.

Apparently, the Baharuth have had skirmishes with Re-Estize on the Katze plains every year during the harvest season. When I heard this, I could already see what was happening. Dyne was kind enough to explain the drafting this country has for its military, with most recruits being farmers or other peasants who would temporarily bulk up the military before being sent off to the Katze plains.

If my guess is correct, Baharuth is attacking this kingdom at its most pivotal point, the harvest season, in an effort to grind Re-Estize's supplies down. Since this kingdom would recruit many farmers and other peasants for their army, then those peasants would be unable to farm when the harvest was ripe. This would mean that the kingdom would be continually feeding their army and populace while not recovering food for that harvest.

Since this continual war has been happening for years now, I'm frankly surprised that this kingdom hasn't collapsed from being unable to feed its populace. The Baharuth are just playing a waiting game at this point until Re-Estize can no longer put up a fight. Then they'll just steamroll over this kingdom.

I would need to look more closely at this political minefield before I would make a decision to trip it. Until then, I would just remain a neutral party. Personally, I wanted to avoid creating too many large ripples in this world until I knew what sharks swam in its waters.

And, from talking to Ninya about some aspects of magic, I learned that 6th Tier magic is the highest anyone in this world can perform, and of all the magic users that currently were known, barely any could use magic at that level. Anything higher was considered the realm of the gods. Put me into that equation and it was like comparing a bow and arrow to a nuclear warhead. The moment I truly started letting loose my spells, I would immediately be labeled a divine being…

They wouldn't be entirely wrong. Technically, I am a demigoddess, and in the legends of the kitsune, they could eventually turn into gods after enough time had passed or something similar. _I like the sound of that_. But it also brings up potential issues with myself and this world. For one thing, I have the classes **[Chosen of Freya]** and **[Chosen of Loki]** which already means that I was chosen by both deities to be their earthly representative.

Oh my various possible gods! I needed to test my **[Loki's Call]** ability as soon as possible! It allowed me to summon Loki as well as some of his children and Ratatoskr. If the surprising sapience my clone displayed earlier was any indication, I could potentially be summoning the actual God of Mischief.

After this job, I'm going to the woods somewhere to test that ability.

"Hey, Kashia, would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?" Peter asked me which disrupted me from my train of thought.

I looked at him before saying, "What?"

"I was just asking if you would like to tell us a bit about yourself. The trip to the farm is going to take a while, and we were a little interested in knowing more about you." Peter elaborated. I was slightly expecting and dreading this conversation, but it had to happen sometime or later.

"Well, what would you like to know?" I asked openly. This was going to be a good test of my improv skills, but they say the best lies have a mixture of truth in them.

Peter was the first to respond, "Where do you come from? You aren't a local, that's for sure. But, your style of dress is unique to this kingdom as well as seems like something a noble would wear."

"You are right about me being a foreigner. I come from a land far to the east past the Draconic Kingdom and Baharuth Empire." I answered before smiling at the thought of my next answer. "And for you wondering about my style of dress, it's not because of any type of nobility, but because of hard work that I underwent to make it myself."

"Wow, a beautiful mage and seamstress! You are perfect!" Lukrut complimented, which I took in stride as I'd blow his mind with my next statement.

"Though, you are right about nobility, I'm actually of royal nobility." I finished, leaving all my comrades bug-eyed and open-mouthed at my statement. Technically, I'm telling the truth since I'm the daughter of Inari, a Goddess of Foxes. And, if a bunch of rulers can claim that a divine being told them that they had the right to rule, then being the child of a divine being meant that I could skip the process of being told so by a deity.

"W-Wait, what?" Lukrut sputtered out in confusion, "B-But, if you are a royal, then what are you doing as an adventurer? You could be living the dream in a palace somewhere."

"My mother is the type that doesn't care about royalty. Any of my other siblings I've had didn't receive any special treatment and had to work for everything they got. I'm no different." And it was true. There had only been two other kitsune who had received the **[Daughter of Inari]** class.

Frankly speaking, all three of us kept quiet about the class because we knew that if people figured out the details of that class, we'd be hunted and PK'ed over and over until our characters stayed dead. Our class is a gamebreaker in itself because it allows for a full revive from death with no penalties for one thing. Another is that the **[Daughter of Inari]** class was the only way in the entirety of YGGDRASIL to be able to regenerate mana without the need to wait multiple hours for it to replenish naturally.

Where most races using magic would burn through their mana after a couple high level spells, a full fledged kitsune would still have a titanic amount of mana left. And then, with the passive **[Ichor of the Divine]** that kitsune would regain .05% of their maximum mana back every second they weren't casting spells or affected by their own spells. Essentially, kitsune could bomb an entire group of players to hell, and then keep going.

I abused this passive so much whenever I dueled another high leveled player. After a while of casting a bunch of large spells, I would lure them into a false sense of security before nuking them when they thought I was helpless and out of mana. The trick works best when wearing clothing or accessories that hide your mana. That way, other players would never know at what level your mana is at, and you will be able to continue fucking with them in PvP.

"You're quite unique compared to most nobility in Re-Estize if that's the case. You wouldn't find a noble here caught dead doing menial labor like adventuring." Dyne stated with a smile, "It's nice to see that not everyone born to a privileged lifestyle will avoid interacting with commoners like us."

"Why would I? Frankly, the only reason that nobles think they're better than everyone else is because of their family name. We're all the same. We all bleed, eat, and shit. Not even a name can change that." I replied which made Dyne, Lukrut, and Peter smile in return. I noticed that Ninya seemed slightly more relaxed after I said this, which made me think that the girl may have had bad experiences with nobles in the past.

"Words to live by." Dyne said sagely. "If you don't mind, would you care to tell us what brought you from your lands to this kingdom?"

"I'm a traveler. I enjoy exploring new places and learning new things." That was the truth. When I was in YGGDRASIL, I took the time to explore more of the hidden nooks and crannies that players would miss. I also found traveling to the nine different realms to be an absolute delight. The developers really went all out on making each realm completely unique to one another.

"Hopefully, you'll choose to stay for a long time in Re-Estize, and E-Rantel especially." Lukrut said, finally finding his voice after the revelation I dropped on the entire group. I put my hand under my chin in a thinking pose.

"I just might. There hasn't been much that I've disliked about this kingdom from what I've seen. And there's still quite a bit more to explore." I mused. A large grin grew on Lukrut's face when I said this. At least he seemed happy with my answer. "Since we're trading our stories, mind telling me why you four joined the adventuring business?"

Peter was the first to speak, "I was born in E-Rantel. When I was a kid, I'd spend a lot of my time in the Adventurer's Guild hearing all these stories about heroic adventurers who would save people. One adventurer at the guild decided to take me under his wing and taught me how to read, write, and fight."

So, Peter was definitely the charismatic hero type. "What happened to the adventurer that taught you?" I asked curious.

"He decided to retire a couple of years ago. By now, the old man is probably sipping on wine at his small vineyard. I visit him every few weeks and trade stories with him. He usually gives me a bottle of wine during our talks." Peter finished. At least Peter didn't suffer the usual hero trope of his mentor dying.

The next person to speak was Dyne, "I lived as a traveling druid for a couple of years. I'd travel to different villages and heal the sick and wounded when I arrived. Then, I encountered Peter on the road one day. He was traveling to the same village that I was heading to on a monster slaying job, so we decided to arrive together." Lukrut patted Dyne on the shoulder and chuckled.

"Dyne's always been the type to help those in need. We sometimes even end up staying at a place longer since the big guy tries to help everyone before we leave." Lukrut complimented which made my respect for the man grow. It made me wish that there had been more altruistic people like Dyne in my world, maybe then it wouldn't have turned to a corporate cesspool like it had.

"At the village, we found a few ogres attacking the village which made us work together to fight them off. He would fight, and I'd heal him when necessary. After that," Dyne then patted the head of Peter, "he convinced me to join up with him as an adventurer."

"Sadly," Lukrut said with and embarrassed laugh, "my reasons for becoming an adventurer aren't as noble as the others. I thought that becoming an adventurer would get me a better chance at attracting women."

"Don't be embarrassed, Lukrut." Dyne said with a reassuring pat on the blond's shoulder, "Even if your intentions were selfish at the start, you've proven time and again that you've a good heart with all the people that you've helped."

My ears quickly heard Lukrut whisper, "You are the best hook-up partner, ever." Dyne chuckled before nodding.

"But now I know that my goal of becoming an adventurer was not in vain, for I might've never met the most beautiful woman in the world!" Lukrut added with as much bravado as he could muster. I might never date him, but his personality was certainly growing on me.

"I fear that all the woman in the world might grow jealous at your claims. And many might come crying to E-Rantel because I have stolen your attention from them." I said with a giggle. Wait, did I just _giggle_? That was strange, but it wasn't completely terrible. This body was messing with my head, that was something I was completely positive of. _And what of it? You aren't that worried about it._

You know, I made a good point. It had barely been two days in this new world, and the initial shock of being in this new body had completely disappeared since then. Now, I was noticing how much my mental state was changing with this body.

For instance, I was beginning to see other males as attractive _mates_, and it felt weird seeing them as mates. Another involved how I was beginning to view other species. The goblins and hobgoblins that I was in charge of could now be categorized as _weak, helpless, underlings, mine_. Normal humans were _weak, potential mates, playthings, interesting_.

That goblin band were under my leadership, I'll admit that. But I wanted to make them stronger than what they are now. _They are like children_ in that regard. I just had to nurture them to their full potential while also creating a base of operations in that hidden grove. And, maybe that base could grow into a city that I'd be _queen_ of.

I was once human myself, so how could I view my former race with any form of disdain. Even if the humans that I've encountered could barely hold a candle to the massive sun that was my strength, that didn't mean they weren't without their own value. Every race was _pitifully weak_ compared to me, so humans weren't unique in that regard.

There was potential in every race, humans included. Like the goblins, I feel that I only needed to nurture their strength until they reached their potential. I felt strangely responsible for my former race. While goblins were like children, the humans _are my children_. If needed, I would intervene to ensure the survival of the human race here. Up to, and including, using force to end their petty squabbling.

I'll also admit that humans would always hold a special place in my heart. They were the closest type of humanoid in this world that I felt that I could relate to. I doubted that there were others of my race in this new world, and if there were, they'd be few and far between. If there had only been fifty-two kitsune players in all of YGGDRASIL, then I doubted that this new world would be so accommodating.

_The species must continue. You might be the last of your kind in this world._

This was way too soon for me to think like that, but at the same time I couldn't help but notice that part of me agreed with that thought. Even more terrifying, I think that I'm starting to lose myself to this body. I had to get to the bottom of this quickly, before more of my mentality changed in much more drastic ways.

I finally ripped myself from my internal debate and looked over to Ninya who had remained silent during this chat. I decided to speak, if only to coax the girl out of her shell, "Ninya, if you don't wish to share your past with me, that's fine. I'm always here if you wish to talk." I said to the shy girl.

She glanced at me with her blue eyes, and I saw a smile appear on her face after a few moments. Then, she spoke, "Thank you for the offer, Kashia. I don't like to talk about my past that often. I might tell you one day."

I nodded in understanding of her decision. With the type of hesitation that Ninya was showing about talking about her past, she probably suffered in one way or another that she found to be traumatizing. "If you don't want to talk about your past, would it be too personal to tell me about why you wanted to become a mage?" I was a little curious about why she became a mage of all things.

Ninya showed much less reluctance at this question, "I was born with an innate talent that lets me learn magic faster than usual." Innate talent? Was that like a passive skill in YGGDRASIL?

"Are talents something everyone can get?" I asked.

"Not really, Kashia." Peter answered, "Talents are slightly rare for people to be born with, and not all of them are useful like Ninya's. I heard tale of one person whose talent let him predict what the weather might be like, though he wasn't always accurate. But you also have people like our local alchemist apprentice, Nfirea, who has the talent to use any and all magic items."

That was very interesting. I think I might pay this Nfirea a visit to measure him up. And, I also wondered how my alchemy skills would compare to someone in this world. Two birds with one stone.

"Very interesting." I then looked back to Ninya, "Ignore my rambling, please continue."

"Since my talent gave me an edge in learning magic, I wanted to improve myself which is how I ended up coming to E-Rantel." Ninya looked away from me with hesitation before she decided to continue, "My…" Ninya paused before continuing, "sister is the one who originally pushed me to learning magic." From the way that Ninya was hesitant about mentioning her sister, I assumed that she may have been part of why Ninya was hesitant to talk about her past.

As we continued our trek down the road, I rested my hand on Ninya's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. This made the girl look up to my smirking face, "If you want, after this job I'll try and teach you some spells."

"I would like that, Kashia." I held my grip on her shoulder a little longer before I let go. Soon after, the scent of manure and chicken shit filled my nostrils which made my face scrunch up in disgust. I held that expression for only a moment before my face went back into resting position. That stench told me that we were approaching a farm, and one with a bit of livestock.

"We're getting close to the farm." I announced to the group. They gave me a questioning look, with Peter being the one to talk.

"How do you know that?" He wondered. I playfully tapped on my nose.

"My body's senses are slightly more advanced than an average person. I can smell the manure from where we are." I answered. Yeah, my body's senses were advanced…a hell of a lot more than I was underselling right now.

"That is a very useful ability. That'll help us when we're looking for the ogres and goblins. Are there anymore amazing things about yourself that you haven't told us yet?" Lukrut asked.

"Maybe," I teased," you'll just have to find out."

Less than a minute later, our group could spot the red-painted building of a barn with a small house next to it. Around the farm were wooden fences which had a few cows meandering about. Aside from that, I could see a few chickens pecking at the ground for food.

I couldn't spot any crops, so this farm must primarily raise livestock as its main method of profit. The farmer probably relied upon the produce made by the other nearby farms in order to feed their animals.

As we continued our trek towards the barn, I took a glance around the area and already determined one problem. This farm was completely surrounded by trees. The ogres and goblins would've had an immensely easy time sneaking around the perimeter of the farm if I wasn't here.

"Where would you guess the farmer is?" Ninya wondered aloud.

"Barn or house. I'm thinking that he's in the barn since the early morning is when farmers start work." I answered. My answer being satisfactory enough for the group, we walked to the barn and peaked in to see a man sitting on a small stool milking one of the cows.

"Hello?" Peter greeted which made the man spare a glance over his shoulder to us before continuing to milk the cow.

"You the adventurers that were called for?" The farmer asked with a friendly tone.

"Yes, sir." Peter answered, "Supposedly, this is most likely the next area to be hit by the ogres and goblins. We're here to end the threat, but we'll need some of your assistance to do so." The farmer stopped milking his cow and gave it a pat on the side before he stood up and turned to us.

The man wore a plain shirt and a pair of black pants that were held up by leather suspenders. The shirt did nothing to hide the corded muscles in the man's torso from years of hard labor. And he didn't have a _bad looking face either_. Though, it was covered in a large amount of stubble which did little to detract from his looks.

He gave us a smile and spoke, "Any help that I can lend to you adventurers is all yours. You're trying to save my livelihood after all. So, what can I do to help?"

"You'll need to bring in your cattle to start off with. Else, you're likely to get them taken by the ogres and goblins. From what we know, these monsters like to raid quickly and run off with any stolen goods." Peter answered before looking at Ninya and I, "Kashia or Ninya, do either of you have any type of spell that can alert us if the goblins and ogres come by?"

Ninya shook her head disappointedly. I on the other hand had a few spells that could alert me of any intruders. My weakest, **[Perimeter]**, just gave me a basic warning of whatever triggered the area that I put it. The higher-level version of that spell could even reveal enemies who were using high level sneak abilities or spells that hid their presence. Then, there were my traps. Those were very fun to use, especially since I could spam them onto a field and wait as my enemies were brutally subdued in it.

"Do you want a perimeter warning system or a bunch of traps?"

"Could you do both?"

"Yes, I can. It'll take me a few minutes to place everything, but I can get it done." My response made Peter and the rest of the group smile.

"Could you, please?" I nodded and walked a small distance from the group. It was time to show them a glimpse of my power, and this would be one of those ways. Holding my left hand up, my feet were covered in a red magic circle as I cast my basic version of the spell **[Perimeter]** since I doubted that these ogres and goblins were all that special as to evade my spell. The spell was a simple one to cast, with the only real requirement being the mana cost to give the size of the area for the spell to work. Since I had a ridiculous amount of mana, I was able to easily cover the perimeter of the farm, and a little bit more into the woods.

Beyond just detailed knowledge of beings that entered or left the spell's zone, **[Perimeter]** could give me detailed knowledge of the terrain contained inside of itself. Even more details could be revealed when cast at a higher Tier.

After that, I cast my next spell, **[Foxfire Detonation]**, a Tier 3 spell that you placed in an area that could go off either due to enemies or from prematurely detonating the spell itself. The spell only costed however much mana you needed for the explosive size, and upon detonation, it would deal fire-based damage that would constantly burn its target for the next thirty seconds regardless of any attempts to extinguish it.

Turning the spell into a higher Tiered version of itself granted extended length to the burn as well as power. Rule of thumb in YGGDRASIL was that if I could detonate more than ten of the highest Tier onto a player, they'd die unless they had some way of healing the damage lost from the spell. The other fun part of the burning effect from the spell was that it could stack when cast at a higher Tier.

With my knowledge of the entire surrounding area, I spread my traps around the outer edge of the farm until I felt satisfied that it would clear out most if not all of the ogres and goblins that would arrive soon enough. Afterwards, I walked back to the group and spoke, "I will now know of any being that enters or leaves this area. I would also recommend that none of you try to go near the edges of the farm since the traps I set will go off if you stand on them." One of the downsides to **[Foxfire Detonation]** was that it had a friendly fire mechanic to it.

"You must be a powerful sorceress if you can cast such spells so easily." The farmer complimented. I just grinned at the compliment.

"I try to believe that there is always someone better than me out there. Thankfully, I haven't met this person yet." I boasted which made the farmer nod in agreement.

"Always a smart idea to keep your head from swelling up with an ego. Seen adventurers get killed because of it. Either way, I'm going to rein my cattle in. I'll even give you all an extra reward if you assist me." I saw the eyes of Lukrut and Ninya light up at the mention of an extra reward.

"Sure. We'll help out!" Lukrut responded immediately. He then fixed his gaze to me with a grin, "With this extra reward, I'm wondering if you would want to have dinner with me tonight? I'm paying." Very tempting offer. I'm not against free food, and I might get to know more about this group which is an added bonus.

"I hope you know a decent place. I can muster up quite an appetite when the occasion calls for it." I'm going to eat through Lukrut's coin purse if it was the last thing I did. After all, I can enjoy when people want to lavish food and gifts upon me. And, Lukrut didn't seem unwilling to do so.

Lukrut seemed overjoyed before he quickly ran off to one of the gated areas that contained cattle inside. "That guy is completely hopeless." Peter said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, he probably is. Still, free food is something I'm always up for."

Ninya finally spoke up after all of this, "I'm going to go help Lukrut and make sure that he doesn't get into too much trouble." She then took off after the lovestruck archer and left the farmer, Peter, Dyne, and I alone.

"Do you think they even know where they need to bring the cattle?" Dyne pondered aloud.

"Possibly not." The farmer answered.

"We going to tell them where they need to go?"

"Not yet," I interrupted, "I want to see what happens and this might be funny." The others shrugged at my answer and we all walked up to the fence and leant on it while watching Lukrut and Ninya attempting to herd the cattle. It was a funny sight to see as one of the cows wouldn't move no matter how much the archer shouted at it to do so.

"Looks like Lukrut is getting frustrated." Peter remarked.

"Five copper says that one of the cows is going to knock him on his ass." Dyne said before pulling five copper coins out of his coin purse. Peter quickly did the same. I heard a jingling next to me and looked over to see the farmer pulling five coins for his pocket.

"Mind if I get in on this? Five says that none of the cows are going to do anything."

"Sure. Kashia, you in?" I reached into the small coin pouch at my belt and fiddled around until I pulled out some copper coins.

"I'm betting that Lukrut falls because of his own mistake." I answered. With the bets set in, the four of us watched the entertainment as Ninya was having better luck than Lukrut at getting the cows to follow her. Then again, she was also luring them with food which gave the cows a greater incentive to follow her than Lukrut.

With Lukrut, he started tugging on rope collar of the cow to get it to move. It was a feeble attempt as the cow seemed to completely ignore Lukrut's pulling. By now, the cow seemed firmly locked in place. But even though the cow was unyielding, the rope collar with its bell attached to it wasn't.

After a few tugs, the knot holding the collar undid itself and Lukrut quickly fell to the ground as his face grew red with embarrassment. "Lukrut fell due to himself." I spoke with a small giggle.

"And the cow did nothing. Miss Kashia and I appear to have won this bet." The farmer added. Peter and Dyne seemed to grumble before passing the coins over to the farmer and I which we quickly split and put away.

After that little bit of entertainment, the farmer ducked through his wooden fence and went off to help the two adventurers in the art of herding cows. "So, what's your home country like, Kashia?" Peter decided to ask me.

"It had its good parts, and it had its bad parts like any place. The country was large, so immense in fact, that much of it still hadn't been explored. I loved the place, but I doubt that I'll ever be able to go back." Peter and Dyne looked at me with a good amount of concern.

"That sound terrible. Is there any reason for why you can't you go back?"

I glanced at Peter and Dyne before I shook my head, "I thank you for the concern, but I don't feel completely comfortable talking about that. Maybe one day I'll let you know, but until then I'd rather avoid discussing it."

"If you don't feel comfortable with discussing about your past, then that's perfectly fine. Just know that we're always available if you want to talk." Dyne spoke up. I gave a soft smile to the two before fixing my gaze back to the cattle wranglers. With the farmer helping, Lukrut and Ninya were both having an easier time with getting the cows back into the pens.

"Since I'm part of your group now, is there anything that you guys like to call yourselves? Any famous adventuring group must have a suitable name."

"Our group's name is the Swords of Darkness which takes homage after the famous weapons that the Black Knight, one of the famous Thirteen Heroes that fought back and defeated the Evil Deities, freeing the world from their rule. Our goal is to one day own the swords that the Black Knight originally used. Until then…"

As Peter said this, both he and Dyne, almost as if practiced, pulled out matching black daggers with hilts ornamented in small dark jewels. "We use these blades as a way to symbolize our comradery." After that, both adventurers sheathed their blades.

"I hope that you can accomplish this goal one day. Until the-" I stopped moving as my **[Perimeter]** spell alerted me that multiple beings had tripped my detecting system. This was quickly followed by a few of my traps detonating. Dyne, Peter, and I quickly shared a look of understanding.

"Thirteen ogres and eighteen goblins have entered my spell's area. Two ogres and five goblins died from my initial traps." I alerted the two. A much higher count than what had been reported previously. Where did they get those number? It didn't matter, "We have work to do."


	4. Chapter 4

**A Vulpine Spanner in the Works  
Chapter 4: Discussions Between Monsters, Gods, and Tricksters**

The demi-humans that were approaching our location would be child's play to eradicate for me. While it could save me a lot of time, I also was a bit curious of the capabilities of my new comrades and a few enemies to fight against would give me a slight idea of what they could and couldn't do. Didn't mean that I wouldn't help them take care of some of the raiding demi-humans.

Better stick to using 3rd Tier spells so I didn't wipe out all of the raiders with one spell. Also, I needed to keep the collateral damage to a minimum since this farmer probably couldn't afford to lose too much of his land. My traps had enough space between the woods and the farmer's land to avoid setting anything on fire from the initial explosion. It also helped that since these enemies were so weak, they were immolated instantly.

I could smell the stench of burning ogre and goblin from here, and it was bad enough that I started breathing solely from my mouth to avoid inhaling the scent into my nose. This was going to be an issue if I ever encounter smells worse than burning goblin and ogre. I seriously needed to get a handle on my nose if I wanted to avoid becoming incapacitated because of it.

Regardless of smells, I had to rein in the fire spells unless I wanted this farm to go up in flames. Earth spells were out as well because of the damage that they caused from either upturning the ground or launching heavy rock projectiles in any direction. Since it seemed that spells had more permanence here than compared to YGGDRASIL, then a bunch of large boulders weren't going to disappear from the area anytime soon.

Wind spells used too much AoE that made me worried about hitting any of my companions. But lightning spells, and spells that focused on single targets could work. They were highly controlled with very little risk of injuring my companions or causing collateral damage, and that was great for me as my class **[World Disaster]** made offensive spells I used more destructive than what they'd normally be. Lightning was the simplest choice, and I had a spell that could fit my earlier criteria.

I looked over to Peter and Dyne, "You two are going to need better protection if you plan to attack those raiders up close." I stated before placing my hands on the shoulders of both men. "**[Body of Steel]**" When I said this, both men were covered in a soft metallic glow that faded, "**[Mana Font]**." The next spell covered them in a gold aura before it faded away as well.

The first spell was a simple 2nd Tier spell that enhanced the defensive capabilities of whoever it was cast on. It was essentially a required spell for certain low-level caster classes because of how most caster classes couldn't wear armor unless they used a class changing spell. I stopped using that spell a long time ago since I both learned better protective spells and got the perk **[Tails of Adamantine] **which essentially made my tails indestructible and allowed me to use them as a shield if needed.

While I rarely if ever used the first spell, the second, **[Mana Font]**, let me convert my mana into stamina that I could then transfer to another character or I could give that character mana from my reserves. It was rare for players in YGGDRASIL to ever learn that spell because for most characters mana is a limited resource that takes hours to recharge.

While the stamina boost was nice for physical fighting classes and the mana transfer could pool mana from other casters into another player who was the designated nuke, it was too expensive and would suck most casters dry after a few minutes. For me, that wasn't an issue as I always had an immense amount of mana to burn…

I just never really had friends that I could use that spell on. But that is something that hopefully might change with the new allies I've gained.

"Kashia, what did you just do?" Peter asked as he inspected his body.

"Both you and Dyne are a lot tougher than before. It'll take a good blow to really scratch you. You're also not going to get tired as long as my enhancements on you last." I explained as my ears twitched to a noise behind us. Glancing over my shoulder, I spotted Ninya and Lukrut running up to us.

"Just who I wanted to see." I stated as the two quickly climbed over the wooden fence and joined us. Not even bothering to explain, I buffed the two of them like I'd done for Peter and Dyne.

"Wha-" Lukrut was about to ask before I quickly interrupted him.

"I gave both of you some enhancements that'll make you tougher and prevent you from feeling fatigued." Looking back to Peter, "What's our plan?" I wanted to see what his leadership skills were like and this was a perfect moment to test him. Plus, if anyone got in trouble, I could easily bail them out if need be.

"Lukrut, focus your arrows on the goblins and try to take as many of them out before they can reach Dyne and I. Kashia, and Ninya, use your magic to injure and slow the ogres down. Dyne and I will be going out onto the front lines to deal with anything that gets close." Peter drew his sword after saying this and turned to face the oncoming attackers.

Dyne pulled out his mace and joined Peter as both started moving forwards. I heard the 'twing' of a bow as my eyes spotted an arrow quickly flying past their heads before burying itself into the skull of a goblin from over 80 meters away. Glancing over, I spotted Lukrut already lining up another shot before letting another arrow fly through the air, hitting another goblin.

"Guess all that talk about your archery skills wasn't for show." I teased the archer before focusing my eyes onto the raiders. Thirteen ogres and sixteen goblins remaining. Time to even those numbers a bit.

Spotting three ogres marching together with four goblins following after them, I had a quick idea in mind and wanted to see what Ninya could do with her magic. "Ninya, know any water spells?"

"A few, but they aren't powerful enough to hurt the goblins or ogres. My **[Magic Arrow]** would be more effective in damaging them." The girl quickly replied.

"I don't need you to hurt them, just get the group of three ogres and the area around them really wet. Can you do that?" I asked while pointing at the specific group. Ninya didn't seem to fully register what my plan was yet, but she quickly casted a spell that launched a large stream of water at the area from the tip of her staff.

The ogres and goblins showed great annoyance at becoming soaked in the magically conjured water as well as from trudging through the muddy soil, but they didn't slow down their pace which was fine with me. Holding my hand out I channeled my mana into my spell, "**[Lightning Stream]**." Which fired a continuous stream of lightning at the soaked ground.

It only took a moment before the electricity was conducted from the water and into the unlucky beings that were walking over the soaked ground. The entire group froze in place and began twitching as the electricity fried them from the inside out. When I finally cancelled the spell, all the ogres and goblins dropped to the ground like marionettes with their strings cut.

A quick survey of the battlefield told me that Lukrut had killed four more goblins while Dyne and Peter were battling an ogre that was about to be joined by some of its comrades. Ten ogres and eight goblins remained.

"A tip for you, Ninya, some spells can compliment and strengthen the effects of others." Channeling another lightning spell, I fired it at an ogre that was getting too close to Dyne and Peter. The moment the bolt of lightning hit the ogre in the head, it immediately spasmed in place before falling to the ground dead.

Ninya didn't have the same amount of ease with ogres like I did. She used a 1st Tier spell, **[Magic Arrow]**, that, while damaging to goblins, barely pierced deeply into the tough flesh of the ogres. Lukrut seemed to be getting the second highest kill-count as he dropped three more goblins.

With Lukrut and Ninya having killed five goblins between the two of them, added with the ogre that I put down, we were left with only nine ogres and three goblins. I heard a battle cry from Peter who sliced the tendon in the back of the left leg of the ogre that he and Dyne were fighting.

It fell to one knee and gave Dyne the opportunity to swing his mace in the side of the ogre's skull with a loud crack. The ogre fell to its side and stopped moving while Peter and Dyne moved away from it and onto their next target.

With eight ogres being the only remaining remnants of their fighting force, I spotted two in the back of the pack that noticed the changing tide of the battle and ran away from the battle and into the woods. The rest of the ogres didn't take notice of this as they charged at Peter and Dyne with reckless abandon.

From the amount of time that it took those two to beat one ogre, I doubted that they could take on the six remaining ogres and survive. But even though I was going to do cleanup duty on the rest of the ogres, I believe that I've seen enough of their abilities to temporarily satisfy my curiosity.

Lukrut, for instance, is an excellent archer who made me curious about what would happen if I gave him a heavily enchanted bow to use? If he's a silver-plate adventurer right now with the skill he has and the weak bow that he has now, could better equipment allow him to rank up in the guild? Food for thought.

Ninya is a fine enough caster, but I think that she could do well with more spells learned for the level she is at. One thing you don't want to do as a low-level magic caster is put all your skill into one spell. I've seen new casters in YGGDRASIL who only bothered to learn one or two damage spells and would become floored when a player or NPC was completely resistant to that spell.

You need versatility as a low-level caster or you'll eventually encounter something that counters your spells. It's at higher levels that you can focus on specific areas in magic since after a high enough level most spell resistances could be ignored since, while a resistance to specific damage types can nullify part of the damage, a high enough amount of damage could ignore it.

Peter showed that he had good leadership skills with the way that he'd been put on the spot by the raiders. Quick-thinking is a skill needed to make decisions that could result in life or death. He could use better equipment, the entire group could, really.

Dyne showed that he was willing to fight on the front lines, and he did so competently. I didn't get to see all of the large man's skills, mainly because of how druid were usually healers, and none of us required healing right now.

But enough analysis, it's time to finish up this battle. Holding up my hand, "**[Lightning: Arc Shot]**!" A bolt of lightning flew from my hand and slammed into the head of the first ogre. Then, instead of just dispersing after the first ogre, it leaped from that ogre and onto the others. Finally, after a few more moments, the lightning faded and all six remaining ogres collapsed onto the ground, their hearts stopped from the massive influx of electricity in their bodies.

Ninya had of look of awe after my display of power while Lukrut chuckled. "I took down more. The ogres still only count as one." He joked.

"You know what they say, Lukrut, quality is better than quantity." I retorted. Looking to my other comrades, I spotted Peter and Dyne walking up to us with large, triumphant grins on their faces.

"Thanks for stopping those ogres before they got to us. I doubt that we could've taken them on, even with the magic you used to enhance us." Were the first words out of Peter's mouth. "I didn't know you were strong enough to kill that number of ogres simultaneously."

I shrugged at the remark, "I actually could've killed them all before they reached us. I really just wanted to see you guys in action, with me stepping in when needed. And, let me tell you, none of you disappointed me." I answered.

"We were very lucky to have met you then. None of us expected for the number of attackers to be that large. This should've been a job for a gold-plate adventurer or at least a larger party than us if you weren't here."

That did make me curious about what was happening out in the wilds that the humans here weren't paying attention to. From what I've seen and heard, humans in this kingdom don't really care about the demi-human races as long as they left the human alone. A large group of ogres and goblins like that shouldn't have been so hidden for the amount of time that they had been raiding.

From all evidence that I've seen, there must be something or someone that was uniting large groups of demi-humans in the woods. This also reminded me about what the goblins had said about the ogres being very hungry lately. I needed to get to the bottom of this, and either figure a way to end this violence peacefully or by force.

To do that, I needed some ogre or goblin to interrogate. And, as luck would have it, there were two ogres running through the woods right now.

"Hold the fort down here for a bit. I'm going to go after those ogres to find out some information." I told the others quickly as I ran towards the edge of the trees at a speed that most would be surprised to see coming from a woman in heels. After enough time wearing these boots, I stopped noticing any difficulty in walking or running, I assumed that it was because of my **[Greater Agility]** passive.

When I arrived at the edge of the woods, I got a good look at my trap handiwork from earlier. The entire area was littered with the charred remains of ogres and goblins that had instantly died from the explosions. That reminded me that I needed to remove my traps, so with a thought, the traps quickly deactivated. With that taken care of, I quickly started sniffing the area. Trying to ignore the smell of burning flesh, I focused in on the stench of ogre that hadn't been overly charred like a bad steak.

I began running into the woods while following the scent. My search was also aided by the crushed vegetation that the ogres had trampled over in their effort to escape. Even with the head start that they had, I was quickly gaining on the two of them as both their stench became more pronounced, and my ears could pick up their loud stomps.

Ogres had the advantage against most weaker races due to their great strength and thick hide. They were built to be humanoid tanks that could take a hit and dish it out just as hard. Despite these natural advantages, they came with weaknesses. Their large size and heavy mass made them very slow, and they needed to consume an immense amount of calories to compensate for all the energy it takes to even move all that muscle.

It took me less than a minute for me to finally catch up to the ogres, and the moment I did, I cast the spell, **[Earthen Defense]**, which caused a wall composed of rock to rise up from the ground and block the path of the ogres. Both ogres turned around and spotted me as I slowed down to a walking pace about fourteen meters away from them.

"I have some questions that I want you to answer. Give me what I want to know now, and I can make this a simple conversation. Or you can-" The ogres didn't even give me time to finish as they started charging me. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the suicidal charge, didn't they just see me take out a bunch of their friends without a sweat?

With how weak these two were, I didn't even bother casting spells. Instead, I stabbed two of my invisible tails into the ground as anchors and the rest in front of my body as a shield. The moment that the two ogres slammed their clubs at me both wooden clubs snapped into splinters, leaving the ogres holding only handles of their former weapons.

"I feel that you don't understand the situation here," two of my tails snaked out from my shield and wrapped themselves around the necks of the ogres before lifting them off the ground, "right now, I'm your judge, jury, and even an executioner. I could crush both of your windpipes right now and be on my way, but I'm feeling quite merciful as I've killed quite a bit today."

After saying this, I slammed both ogres into the ground and moved two of my tails pointed down over their foreheads. Then, I let my illusion fade away to reveal my true glory!

Both ogres didn't even struggle as they quickly realized their situation. The moment they tried anything, I could stab my tails into their heads or crush their windpipes without a second thought. "Now that you are finally understanding what's happening, I hope that both of you can be more cooperative with me." I said in the friendliest tone that I could as a way to put them on edge. I remembered the way my mom could terrify me after I'd done something wrong by speaking in that very friendly tone.

Both ogres quickly nodded in reply and I slightly loosened my tails on their throats. "First of all, why are you raiding the farms in this area? It's less risky to hunt in the woods or attack a random traveler without getting an adventuring party hunting you."

"Food." The ogre to my left said.

"Big 'un kick ogre out of green home." The right ogre said.

"What is this green home? Why did the 'Big One' as you call it force the ogres to leave?" I asked. How strong was this Big One that they could force all the ogres out of their green home?

"Green home is big with club growers." Club growers? Were they talking about trees? "Up from sunset and human rock home. Big 'un strong. Make ogre leave. No food down sunset and green home. Ogre many, food less." The right explained in his broken English. From what I think I understood, their green home was a forest that was up north from E-Rantel as it was the only settlement nearby that could fit their description of rock home.

These ogres may have come from the Great Forest of Tob. Something in those woods forced the ogres to migrate south in mass. I'd reckon that's why the goblins village had come together in the first place. With the large influx of ogres down south, they were eating all the available food in the woods faster than the animals could breed and replenish. Right now, nature was taking its course and the ogres were all starving to death. Because they were running out of food, and they were being left with the options of eating each other or the goblins, the two races decided to cooperate and steal food from the only areas that had plentiful amounts of food.

This explained why the farms were getting raided, and why the raiding group, which had been smaller in its last raid, had gained many more members. Competition and hunger were forcing the ogres to raid, and the goblins to help them or else be eaten by the ogres.

I needed to go to that Great Forest and investigate what is happening if I wanted to prevent more raiding parties from popping up around E-Rantel. But first, I needed to deal with the two ogres at my feet. I quickly unwrapped my tails from their necks and pulled all my tails away from the two ogres.

"Do both of you have names?" I asked. The ogres seemed confused at my question, probably because they weren't used to an enemy asking questions like I was. It took a few moments before the first on my left answered.

"Voh Tun."

The right ogre, encourage by his companion's answer, spoke as well, "Goru Tun."

Both these ogres were hungry and thought with their stomachs. But they were also immensely intimidating, strong, and tough, which would make them great guards for many locations, including a certain goblin village that could use the help if I wasn't around all the time.

"I have a deal for the two of you that could make you both very happy if you were to agree." Both ogres looked at me while being completely silent, "I have a small settlement that I plan on turning into a village. Right now, that settlement could use a couple of guards to fight off anything that might attack it. The benefits for guarding this settlement would be a roof over your heads, company, along with food and water." The moment I mentioned food, both ogres looked like dogs begging for scraps.

"Would this offer interest either of you?" Both ogres quickly nodded repeatedly.

"You strong like Big 'un. Strong get food. I follow strong." Voh Tun answered with a quick bow of his head.

"Club break on you. You beat Tun clan with magic. Beat us with strength. I follow you." Goru Tun stated with a nod of deference to me. I was interested in the way that these ogres venerated strength. It seemed that if I could put on a strong enough show of power, then the ogres would be more willing to follow your orders. I'd have to keep that in mind if I fight other ogres.

"I'm going to teleport both of you to the settlement. When you get there, tell them that Kashia Blanc sent the two of you. The one in charge of the settlement while I'm gone is Muap. He'll tell you what to do when you get there." It was simple to teleport the two of them with the spell **[Lesser Gate]** which was the weaker version of the **[Gate]** spell. It cost less mana, and was very quick to cast, unlike **[Gate]** this spell could only teleport a group of ten people at a time with limits on the distance being fourteen miles unless you shoved more mana into the spell.

Both ogres watched in amazement as a black portal appeared before them. With some hesitation, both stepped through the portal and I closed it behind them. Putting up my illusion once again, I quickly used **[Teleportation]** to arrive back at the farm in front of my comrades and the farmer.

With a grin, I spoke, "Took care of the two ogres after I caught up to them. They won't be raiding farms anymore." I decided to leave out the bit about the Big One that the ogres told me about. While it is important information, I had a feeling that the moment that E-Rantel and the farmers learned about this, they'd march on the Great Forest with torches and pitchforks.

I'd rather not watch an ecosystem be destroyed by an angry mob or have the deaths of any human who entered that forest on my mind. This was something that I could take care of on my own without anyone getting hurt. And, this gave me the chance to go to that forest and explore. And, I could head to the Great Lake and go swimming afterwards. Seems like a fun day.

"Did you learn anything from them?" Peter asked.

"Not much. There wasn't anyone else in their raiding group, we took care of them all."

The farmer had a grateful sigh as I said this, "Thank the gods that I don't have to worry about those monsters coming back! That's a weight off my mind to be sure. Without your help, my livelihood would've been destroyed, so you'll forever have my thanks for that. If any of you ever need help, I'll do whatever is within my power to make up my debt to all of you."

"It was no problem, sir. Any decent person would do what they could to help a person in need." Dyne humbly replied. The farmer seemed to lose his smile for a moment before he corrected himself.

"You may say that, but these aren't decent times. With the Baharuth warmongers and Slane fanatics at our doorstep, and the drafting of able-bodied men for the army, people have become less friendly to one another. One of my farmhands, Arden, is a boy who hasn't even grown stubble yet, but was drafted by the king a month ago." The farmer said in a defeated tone.

This kingdom was on the precipice of collapsing in on itself. A populace that has lost all hope in their government is one that's more likely to revolt. Unless the Re-Estize Kingdom could get a handle on their continual war with the Baharuth, the populace was going to turn on itself. Just the loss of a few farmers was affecting the food supply of the kingdom.

I wouldn't even put it past the Baharuth Empire to be sending spies and infiltrators to rile up the peasants into a frenzy. When the food eventually ran out, this kingdom would fall. This world is a new start for me, and since I ended up in this kingdom of all places, I was going to make sure to do my best in preventing it from falling.

The food problem is something that I needed to take care of. This world's magic was heavily based on that of YGGDRASIL's, which means that they've probably invented spells that deviate from those of the game. There might be a spell that had been created here that I could learn to fix the food problem, but that was only a possible solution. There also might be a spell in my repertoire that could also solve these problems.

And, with my knowledge from my technologically advanced world, I could possibly enhance the farming techniques in this world if they haven't already. I was also curious as to why they didn't use magic to augment farming.

"But this is just the prattling of an over-the-hill farmer. Lukrut and Ninya, here's the reward I promised. You both were very helpful and entertaining." The farmer reached into his pockets and pulled out two small bags of coins that he tossed to the adventurers. "You'll receive the rest of your reward at the Adventurer's Guild."

Looking around the area, I saw that it was still filled with the corpses of the ogres and goblins that we'd killed. "What are you going to do about all the bodies?"

"Don't you worry, miss. I was assured by the E-Rantel military that they'd send some men over to remove them. Since my farm helps provide part of the meat that the city consumes, they want to make sure that nothing can hinder my job. Besides, the five of you have done more than enough today. Go home and enjoy yourselves."

"Then we'll be taking our leave. Good luck with the farm." I replied.

"Thanks for the extra pay!" Lukrut added with a grin. Before we left the farm, I ended my spells that were still active around the farm and on my companions. We left the farm after that and started walking down the road once more. While Peter and Lukrut chatted with one another, and Dyne remained quiet while taking in all the nature that we were around, Ninya spoke to me after enough hesitation.

"Kashia, I have a question for you that I was wondering if you would answer. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, and I won't tell the others your answer," She quickly added, which I nodded in agreement to, "but are you able to cast spells over the 4th Tier of magic? The way that you could cast and maintain all those enchantments placed on us and the battlefield, and use all those powerful spells on the ogres and goblins makes me think that you're a lot more powerful than you're letting on." The girl whispered to me.

She certainly was smart if she could catch onto me holding back my strength. I seriously doubted that she thought I could cast spells higher than 5th Tier, but she knew that something was up. Might as well tell the girl a half-truth, then she'd be less suspicious. Besides, showing my more powerful spells would be such a fun surprise that I didn't want to spoil.

"Yes, Ninya, I'm a lot more powerful than I let on. Part of it is due to my lineage while the rest is because I worked to get as strong as I am." I whispered back before adding with a grin, "And, I hope that you can keep it a secret _just between us girls_." The way that Ninya seemed to freeze when I said this was all the reaction that I wanted and more. And, I know that I may have wanted to let Ninya reveal her secret to me of her own volition, but this option was much more entertaining! And, Ninya had revealed the secret that she knew about me, so it was only fair that I reveal a secret that I knew about her.

"H-How do you know?" Ninya whispered in shock as she looked at her other companions to make sure that none of them had heard what I said.

I put my hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze, "There were a few ways that I could tell. The way you walk for starters, even with all the self-control that you've done to make it seem more masculine, there is still the slight sway in your step, I'm guessing the cloak you wear is meant to mask that movement. Your appearance, while tomboyish, can't fully hide the feminine features of your face or voice. And," I tapped my nose playfully.

"What does your nose have to do with anything?" Ninya asked in confusion.

"I wasn't lying earlier when I said that my body is more advanced than an average human. My nose can pick up the differences between males and females quite easily due to the hormones that both genders produce." I finished explaining. Ninya was quiet for a few moments before finally speaking up.

"Why are you telling me this now?"

I shrugged in reply, "You told me something about me that you had learned, so I felt that it was fair to do the same. And, I doubt that you like hiding who you truly are all the time, so I felt that it might remove some of the burden on your conscience. Like I said before, I'm always available if you want to talk, you just have to ask me." By now, I had let the two of us fall behind from the other three to give us some more privacy.

"It just feels strange that someone else knows my secret. I kept the fact that I'm a girl hidden at first because it's safer to travel as a boy than it is a girl. After I met the others, I felt like them knowing my gender would hurt my friendship with all of them." I couldn't blame her for feeling worried about her relationship with the others. After all, they'd only known her as Ninya the Boy Mage, and depending on how long Ninya had been friends with the others, it may hurt them to know that she had hidden such an important part about herself for so long.

Still, it wasn't healthy in the long-term to keep a secret like that bottled up for so long. "Ninya, they are your friends, aren't they? You've laughed, fought, and bled together. It may hurt them to know that you've hidden who you are from them, but I doubt that they'd ever break their friendship with you. None of them seem the type to see gender as any reason to treat you differently, though Lukrut may or may not make possible passes at you." Ninya giggled at the last part.

She quickly calmed herself before looking up at me, "I don't know, it just doesn't seem right to tell them right now. I can't do it." I nodded in understanding.

"It's your decision. I'll support whatever decision you make. Though, I may needlessly tease you because it's amusing to me."

"Kashia! That's not funny!" Ninya whined. I took my hand off her shoulder and playfully tousled her hair in retaliation. "Hey, leave my hair alone!" She ordered while shoving my hand off her head, then she tried to comb it back down with her fingers.

"Oh, so you do care about your hair. I would've thought that you'd act like a boy and ignore what your appearance looks like. You truly are a girl!" I teased as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into an inescapable bear hug that any man would kill for in her position. "As an adult and your mentor in magic, it's my duty to mercilessly tease my student in all matters of their life."

She struggled and pulled her head from my chest to look me in the eyes, "Wait, you're making me your student now?" Looking down at her, I nodded and gave her a soft smile.

"Of course. You handled yourself well enough during the battle to prove to me that you have talent in magic. And, I can't resist having a student who I can order around and embarrass. This'll be so much fun for me…And you," I added, "but mostly me."

Ninya sighed at my declaration, "Can you at least let me go? Your…chest is suffocating me." Acquiescing to her request, I let her out of my grip and watched as she took a breath that she'd been holding in. Note to self: possible ability to suffocate people with hugs. Potentially deadly weapon used in the right situations.

"Kashia, when do you plan to start teaching me?" Ninya asked after regaining her breath. That did make me think, there were multiple things that I needed to do this week, but I can always use a **[Replicant]** to do those chores. So, technically anytime, though I would like to do a lot of the teaching myself instead of sending a copy since it would give me a greater sense of accomplishment that I couldn't get if a copy did all the work.

"In two days, after we finish whatever job we do with the others, I'll take you with me to start training. And don't worry about being tired or low on mana after the job tomorrow since I'll just use the enchantment I used on all of you earlier. There's no room to be tired in Kashia Blanc's Magic Class!" I answered with more enthusiasm than I thought.

"I don't know if I should be happy or worried about whatever you're going to make me do." Ninya said with a nervous look on her face. The girl had no idea what kind of tortu-I mean _training_, that we would be doing tomorrow. If she didn't know any protective spells, she'd learn them by the time I was done with her.

"Both would be a suitable choice. Now, how about we catch up with the others? I'm sure that they're wondering what we could possibly be talking about. And, I want to get back to E-Rantel soon because Lukrut is paying for my dinner tonight." I didn't mention that I also wanted to use my **[Loki's Call]** ability to verify if what I've been wondering is correct.

I also needed to debrief my copy about what has happened with the goblins today, and what she could've possibly done in the city while I was away. After that, I had another list of things to do which would need to be done tomorrow. I'd need to check in on the goblin settlement and make sure that the ogres were set up, as well as do some cleaning of the area if my copy hadn't already done so.

After that, I had to go north to the Great Forest and find this Big One that the ogres talked about and take care of the problem. Then, I'd check out the Great Lake and have some fun. To accomplish this, I'll probably have a copy of myself take my place with the others on whatever job that they were going to do that day. After that, I've been thinking of changing the terrain of the goblin settlement to be more defensible than what it is now.

The pond was also another issue that needed to be taken care of. I've been thinking about a way to fix that, and my idea involved expanding the pond into a small lake, filling that lake with a large water spell, then filling this newly-made lake with fish. The Great Lake up north could possibly help me with that issue since it should have a large supply of marine species.

There's also the possibility of expansion in the settlement. At the rate that I've been recruiting newcomers to the settlement, we'd need more housing to fit the residents in. I could always create hollow hills that had multiple floors and rooms. That would work, but I was thinking far ahead of myself right now.

Right now, I had to get back to E-Rantel.

* * *

It was almost an hour later before we arrived at the guildhall and collected our pay for the job. I felt happy with the weight of my silver coins in the coin purse on my belt. It just felt satisfying to get a reward that was immensely better than the measly amounts of copper I earned yesterday.

"That certainly was a job well done." Peter said as he collected his pay. "This job would've taken much longer if we didn't have your assistance, Kashia. It was a great decision to invite you into our group."

"Yeah, we may have gotten seriously hurt without your help. We're lucky to have recruited you to our group first before anyone else. Your versatility in spellcasting could help for many challenging missions." Dyne added with a clap on my shoulder.

I smiled and nodded at the compliment, "Keep saying things like that and I'm going to start blushing." Dyne chuckled at my comment.

"He's just telling the truth." Peter reassured me. "So, now that the job's done, will you be joining us for a job tomorrow?" He asked, changing topic.

"While I would love to, I have some chores and commitments that I need to do tomorrow, but I'll be able to work with all of you the day after." I answered. Even though they seemed understanding of my answer, it was hard for them to hide their disappointment.

"Is there anyway that I could help you? I'm always available if you need it!" Lukrut stated in that chivalrous tone of his. _That's just adorable_. But I wanted to keep everything that I was doing secret from Lukrut and the others. It was way too early in my relationship with them to reveal things, like a goblin settlement under my control or that I was going off to the Great Forest of Tob to deal with the Big One so that ogres would stop getting pushed into human territories and cause conflict.

I wanted to keep the others out of that mess because they definitely weren't strong enough for a task like that. I didn't doubt that they had skills, but if they had some trouble against a large party of ogres, then they would be crushed by whatever could force ogres to flee their territories. I didn't want to risk them getting hurt, and it would distract me from my task if I had to focus some of my attention on protecting the four of them from harm.

Next time might be a possibility if I could make them stronger and give them better gear. Until then, the safest place that all of them could be is off on the sidelines.

There was also another small reason that I wanted to keep them out of this situation; they were all human. I doubt that residents of the Great Forest would be that accommodating to a species who were known for looking down upon non-human races. I might be able to ease possible negotiations considering that I'm not human, I'd just need to enter the forest while I wasn't in my human guise.

"Sorry, Lukrut, this is something that I need to do on my own. If I ever need help with something in the future than I'll let you be the first to know." I assured the blond which seemed to calm him down as the macho stature of his relaxed.

"Alright, I will hold you to that promise. Onto more important topics of discussion," A ridiculous grin grew on Lukrut's face as he said this, "I know a perfect place to have our date tonight, it has wonderful food and drink that I know you'd love!"

Yes, free food and attention so lovingly lavished upon me. I would be quite the fool to turn such a tempting offer down. And, I couldn't help but instinctually feel the need to accept such gifts, especially when they were so generously offered.

"With such enthusiasm about taking me out for dinner, I can't find any reason to turn that offer down. You can pick me up later tonight at the Hero's Respite Inn." I answered.

"Excellent, my lovely sorceress! I'll see you later tonight."

"If everything is settled, I'm going to be heading off. Farewell!"

A chorus of, "Goodbye, Kashia," or similar sendoff were uttered by the group as I made my way out of the guildhall with a wave. That group was really beginning to grow on me.

When I was far enough from the building, I used my **[Teleport]** spell to arrive at a random section of the woods that I had passed when I chased after the ogres earlier. My reason for arriving in the ass-end of nowhere was because I wished to avoid a mess and the questions that followed if I accidentally summoned Jormungandr.

Out here, there was little risk, besides the farmer freaking out due to him being less than two miles away. His property would be safe since any summons with **[Loki's Call]** always appeared in the area in front of where the caster was looking.

With a deep breath, I held my hand out and spoke, "**[Loki's Call]**!" A large, green, runic circle appeared beneath my feet as I felt a great gust of wind tear at my hair and clothes. Before my eyes, a green light began growing in front of me that seemed to suck all the light near it into the growing green light that started forming a pillar about six feet high.

Finally, the pillar burst into fragments, releasing all the light that had been trapped inside of it out into the area. I had to shut my eyes due to how blinding the burst of light was. That was when I heard a long chuckle and the clapping of a pair of hands.

"**I've been waiting for you to call to me, and you didn't disappoint in the slightest. We have much to talk about, my foxy disciple.**" A deep voice full of mirth stated. I quickly blinked my eyes open and was greeted to the sight of a man in a regal green coat over black leather armor. On his head was a green jester's cap that would've seemed ridiculous if anyone else had been wearing it.

The man had dark hair that went down to his shoulders, while his face was a mix between that of a model and a warrior. There were laughter lines on the corners of his piercing green eyes that stared at me warmly.

This was Loki Laufeyson, God of Tricksters, Shape-Changer, Wizard of Lies, Slayer of Balder, and a multitude of other names. I stood before a god in both body and name, and I instinctively felt the momentous amount of power that rolled off the god.

Where I'm like a sun to the people of this world, Loki's power was like a solar system that surrounded my sun and managed to completely dwarf my own power. It was unsettling to feel this massive difference of power since I was used to always being the strongest being in the room. What I didn't understand was why he felt so powerful here in this new world compared back to YGGDRASIL.

"**While I'm happy to see you, I believe that we could do for some better accommodations.**" As Loki said this, he snapped his fingers and the forest around us disappeared and was replaced with a log cabin that had a warm fire going in the fireplace. The most terrifying part of what had just happened was that I had no idea if this was an illusion that Loki had cast or an actual place that he had conjured.

"**Why don't you take a seat and slip into something more comfortable.**" Another snap of his fingers and my clothes disappeared and were replaced with a tight green silk evening gown while my illusion to hide my true self vanished with my clothing. I didn't have time to complain about this change in attire as a chair bumped into the back of my legs and swept me off my feet before catching me in its cushioned embrace.

"You know, I don't exactly enjoy having my items and clothes taken away like that." I stated with a roll of my eyes. Loki gave me a sly grin as I said this.

"**You're certain that you'd like your items back now?**" The way he asked that made me completely suspicious, and I was about to say no but his fingers were quicker, as with another snap I noticed that the evening gown had been replaced with only my underwear. I couldn't help but sigh at the phrasing of his question, "**Oh, don't be like that, I'm the God of Tricksters for a reason. Everyone can incur some type of mischief upon themselves, not even my own followers are completely immune to my jokes.**" He said with another snap that returned all my clothes back.

I couldn't help but grin at the god, "That would also imply that the God of Tricksters could also be tricked himself. I'll keep that in mind the next time that I try and summon you." I answered as I leaned back into my chair and crossed my legs.

Loki burst into another round of chuckling before he spoke again, "**It's exactly that type of mindset which interested me enough to make you my Chosen in the first place.**" I couldn't help but wonder about something that was bothering me since I realized that he was completely sapient.

"Were you sapient before when in the game YGGDRASIL or did you only become self-aware here in this new world?" I asked the god with keen interest.

"**I've always been aware of what occurred to my representative within that game of yours. While my existence has been bound to this world, any manifestation of myself, imagined by humans or otherwise, have always retained a connection to my very being. I know what my counterparts know, fake or real. Illusions and trickery have always been based within both the realms of reality and fiction.**"

"If you exist here, then what about any other gods or goddesses that were in YGGDRASIL? Are they also aware of what has happened to their representatives in the game? And, did divine beings even exist on my earth or were they just fake?" If I had an actual god to talk to, I kinda wanted to get a lot of unanswered questions about the divine and the afterlife answered that many people would kill for.

"**There are some gods and goddess from your game that do exist here, just as I do, and there are others that were never portrayed in your game as well. For instance, Odin certainly exists and is well aware of you killing his representative within the game before you arrived here. He is quite sour about that.**" Oh, shit. Pissing off a god, even unintentionally, might bite me in the ass later on. "**Try not to worry about Odin too much, you are the Chosen of Freya after all, she has some sway with Old One-Eye. There is also your mother who resides in this plane.**"

My ears perked up when Loki said this, and the god's grin seemed to grow at my reaction, "**But that is something for another time, I have other matters that I wish to discuss with you. No doubt you've been wondering how you possibly ended up in this realm with that body of yours, right? **"

Even though I had an instinctual urge to find out more about Inari, _mother_, knowing about why I had ended up in this world had much higher importance. It had been a question that has entered my mind more than once since my arrival, and I wanted my curiosity sated.

"I have. My revelation of this world being real, and not a computer program, has made me wonder how something could drag me from one world to another, in what way was YGGDRASIL connected to this world, and why I was even brought here in the first place?"

"**Always the curious one. Kashia, as you like to be called in this world, understand that you are not the first player to have been brought to this realm. Others have come before you as either conquerors or saviors.**" I couldn't prevent my jaw from dropping as I heard this. I wasn't the first player to have come here, which meant that something had been pulling players from YGGDRASIL to this world for years.

"When did the other players arrive? They couldn't have been here for more than a decade at the least? Wouldn't news about some powerful beings arriving here have spread quickly?" This changes everything. I wouldn't be alone in this world without anyone from my previous home anymore!

"**There was news about these players…centuries ago. Most reports said that all of them died, either of battle or old age. I'm sorry to tell you this.**" My chest hurt as my mind couldn't make a decision on whether I should scream in rage, cry in sorrow, or perform a mixture of both actions. Feeling such intense emotions like this was new to me, and it took all of my self-control to keep myself from breaking down emotionally.

"**Hearing news such as this is distressing, I know. But you need to understand now that you cannot go home, such options were erased with the ending of YGGDRASIL. Accepting your new life here is the only possibility for you.**" The god tried to console me, but part of me, the part still connected to my former life back on Earth, felt destroyed at learning this. My old life was truly over, Aaron Smith was truly gone, and in his place was a kitsune woman named Kashia Blanc.

"Why was I brought here? Who was the one that did it?" I asked softly.

"**No one knows. What is known is that some being connected the game YGGDRASIL to this world through some form of magic on the level of a god. What I have inferred from years of investigating this phenomenon is that players are brought here from the game through a soul snare embedded within the foundations of the game. This soul snare, when activated, will pull the player's soul here with their avatars becoming their new bodies upon arrival. You were an unlucky soul who was within the game when the being activated the snare before the game was shut down.**" Loki appeared to be contemplating as his eyes seemed to grow distant for a moment.

"That answered the how, but not the why. Is this something you've figured out?"

Loki was pulled out from his thoughts as he looked me in the eyes. "**I don't know. The being might be pulling people here to gain immensely strong soldiers without any previous allegiances. It could be due to the power your souls contain that the being might be harvesting. They could even be doing it because it's amusing how players radically change this realm. Whatever the reason, you should be on guard since none of the reasons are for your benefit.**"

All the explanations had some sense of reasonability, but none could be accepted until I got to the bottom of this mystery. I would keep Loki's advice to heart since he is right, I wasn't brought here for my benefit, the benefits for me were only a side-effect of the original reason.

"I'll be careful if that's the case. Is there anything else that you wish to tell me?" My enthusiasm to talk with an actual god had been rapidly drained after this whole conversation. I just wanted it to end at this point so that I could stop keeping my calm visage up.

"**Just a few things that I'm allowed to say.**" Allowed to say? What information was Loki holding back from me? And what was preventing him from telling me more? "**Old things are beginning to stir, and some might even be a match for you.**" _Nothing is a match for me. I am beyond compare!_ "**The gods and goddesses will remain neutral in most situations unless it's directly related to them.**"

"That sounds like bullshit. You're interacting with me right now." I quickly replied. Loki only smiled and made a 'tut tut' sound.

"**Kashia, you are my Chosen, that automatically makes you someone that I can directly interact with normally.**" To prove his point, he snapped his fingers and left me in my underwear once more, then he snapped again and brought my clothes back, "**Summoning me, like you did, gives me a loophole to ignore my neutrality as long as it's tied to you. It just depends on if you even summon me in the first place, and that's a very low chance.**"

"I'm mostly going to be summoning Ratatoskr, aren't I?"

"**Very much so. You'll have a lower chance of summoning me here than in YGGDRASIL. Me talking to you now is a curtesy, otherwise you'd have gotten Fenrir as your conversation partner. He isn't a good conversationalist.**" Loki sighed at the mention of Fenrir, much like a dad who couldn't believe the type of stupidity that their child just demonstrated.

"It won't be that much of a problem. I can handle most trouble that I get myself involved in." Back in YGGDRASIL, I could count on both hands the amount of times that I ever summoned Loki. I never liked to put all my eggs in one basket by having only one plan of attack, especially an unreliable one like **[Loki's Call]**.

"**Excellent! That's the spirit! Now, I only have a little bit of time remaining, so I want you to know one last thing before I go.**" Loki's whimsical tone quickly turned deadly serious, "**When players are brought here, it's usually in batches. And, players brought here usually become tyrants more often than saviors.**" The moment Loki said that, I felt torn between relief that I might not be alone after all, _fear_ of a tyrant that would kill innocent people, and _anger_ that someone would dare touch those who I considered under my protection! "**Treat that information as you will. Good luck, Kashia.**" The god's tone rapidly flipped to a chipper one as he said this.

Then, Loki gave me a wink before both he, and the cabin that we were in, faded away into green mist that dispersed throughout the forest. I was finally alone, with only the noises of crickets and other animals to keep me company.

I'm trapped here. Permanently without any method to get back home. "I-I'm…" My voice wavered as I understood the gravity of what I had to choose. I could keep holding onto my life as Aaron Smith and continue to feel the pain of never seeing my old home. I wasn't even related to my old family biologically because of my new body!

"M-My n-name…" All these memories of being Aaron Smith are like sand castles being washed away by the ocean waves. I'm already changing in small ways, and while Aaron Smith made up the skeleton of my personality, something else was becoming the flesh. And now, with nothing to continue keeping the hope of Aaron Smith returning home alive, that part of me had lost the will to remain as prominently as it once had.

"M-My name is…" With a shudder, I felt tears begin to roll down my cheeks, "My name is Kashia Blanc…" Like a dam being opened, tears poured out of eyes and I began sobbing before I choked out, "Aaron Smith, son of Seth and Julianne Smith, is dead. Kashia Blanc, daughter of Inari, is who I am now."

I curled up into a ball and felt my tails wrap around me as I let out all my emotions in that empty forest.

* * *

Stepping into the goblin settlement after using a **[Teleportation]** spell, I glanced around and spotted some of the new changes that had been implemented here. Surrounding the entire settlement was a seven-meter high wall made of stone. All the tents, which were made of sticks and ratty cloth, had been exchanged with simple earthen huts that were five feet high. The trash that had been littering the area had been removed, while the small pond looked completely clear compared to yesterday.

Much of the overwhelming stench that had filled the area before was gone, I'm guessing that my clone made that the first chore to be done when she arrived. I also spotted a pile of tools and weapons resting on top of a stone table that was merged with the ground beneath it, my clone's doing no doubt.

"Lady Kashia! You've finally arrived!" I didn't even need to turn around to tell that it was the voice of Muap. And, _he called me Lady Kashia. I love it_. Turning around, I gave him a smile and spotted the new sword that was sheathed on his hip.

"Hello, Muap. Seems like you've made some big changes since I was last here. Mind telling me about them?" The hobgoblin rapidly nodded with a large grin.

"Of course! Your clone told us that you sent her to collect supplies and take care of the settlement while you were off on a mission. She arrived with large bags of supplies that almost made some of the boys pass out in excitement! When we were equipped with our new weapons, she decided that we needed more protection, so she used this amazing magic to make walls rise from the earth and transform our tents into huts. After that, she used some more magic to purify the pond while the rest of us were told to clean up the trash and do a few other things."

"Sounds like you had a busy day. Anything else happen?"

"Well, when those two ogres arrived, I thought that Larha was going to have a heart attack. They explained everything after your copy calmed everyone down. We showed them around the settlement while your copy built some huts for them. They've been patrolling the settlement ever since. After that, your copy conjured up this hut by the pond and went inside for a while. We heard some weird moaning coming from there, but we were told to not bother her." Muap finished with a deep inhale.

That last part was a little odd, but I'd ask my copy about it in a little bit, right now I simply patted Muap on the shoulder, "You did a good job today. If the amount of progress that I've seen today keeps happening, then this will be a great village in no time."

"We couldn't do it without you, Lady Kashia." Muap replied, he then took my hand in his before saying, "If you'll follow me, I can take you to where all the boys are." I nodded and let the hobgoblin lead me through the village until we arrived in front of the makings of a farm. The goblins were tilling the ground in long lines. They had cleared out eight feet by ten feet of dirt and were still going at it.

I couldn't help but look down at Muap as he smiled proudly at the progress his comrades made. "When were you taught how to farm?" I asked while continuing to look at the goblins labor. They were so invested in their work that they hadn't even noticed our arrival.

"Your copy showed us what we needed to do with the hoes she brought, then she had us digging out lines of dirt in the open space over here. She said that she planned to get seeds for us to plant tomorrow, so we'll have to wait until we can start raising crops. In the meantime, this is good practice for when we need to make more farming spaces." Muap explained with a positive attitude. At least he was looking on the bright side of this delay. Unfortunately, now I needed to find a place that sold vegetable seeds.

"At least the farming will make you more self-sufficient. We'll need multiple sources of food if we're going to feed everyone here, especially the ogres." I wondered about finding a way to condense the farming. I'd need to think hard on a solution if this settlement continued to gain residents.

"That's the idea." As I took note of each goblin before me, I quickly spotted someone missing. A hobgoblin…

"I don't see Trabgo anywhere. Any idea as to where he went off to?" I asked.

"Trabgo said that he was going scouting around the forest. He'll probably be back tomorrow or the day after." I must've showed my concern quite easily on my face as Muap quickly added, "Not much to worry about concerning him since he's got a good head on his shoulders and knows when run. He'll be back soon enough." His assurance placated some of my fear, but there were still the hungry ogres that were migrating down here.

"If you are sure, then we'll just have to wait for Trabgo to come back home. If everything has been taken care of here, then I'm going to talk to my copy for a bit before I leave. I'll be sending another copy here tomorrow to help in anyway necessary while I head up to the Great Forest of Tob to hunt down some creature up there. I'll arrive later in the day to check in on all of you."

Muap nodded in agreement, "Sounds like a plan. I'll hold down the fort here until then. Happy hunting, Lady Kashia!" I walked off after he said this and heading to the stone shack by the pond where my copy supposedly was staying. When I arrived, I knocked on the simple wooden door.

"Hey, you in there?" I asked. My ears picked up a scuffling sound before the door opened to the face of my grinning copy whose clothing seemed hastily put on while her hair was a mess and the fur on her tails seemed ruffled. "Anything to report?"

My copy leaned against the door with a grin, "Goblin settlement has had an increase in its standard of living. Nothing strange occurred while under my watch, if two ogres magically appearing in the middle of the settlement isn't considered strange, and supplies were delivered."

"Sounds like it was a simple day."

"Boss, that's just the boring stuff. The real fun is what I did in E-Rantel to some uppity high class snobs, and the amazing test run I did with this body." She leaned in close to me and whispered, "Let me tell you, this body is definitely up to par…" She trailed off.

That's when I realized just what she'd been doing in this shack. "Really? You couldn't just keep it in your-"

"Technically, it's a dress." She interrupted, "And, I'm a copy of you, so technically it would be something that originated from your mind." I couldn't help but sigh at the fact that I'm arguing with myself over something so ludicrous.

"Whatever. I really don't feel in the mood to argue with myself right now." I conceded. "You going to disperse, or would you like some more time to do whatever it is you wish to do?"

"I think I can call it a day. Already did everything that I needed to do, and there really isn't much I can amuse myself with since I've done quite a bit already. See you around, Boss." When my copy said this, her body quickly burst into flames that died in the air until no trace of my former copy remained.

You could say that it was enlightening to understand how infuriating I could be, after all, I now had hands-on experience with that matter. Yet, even the annoyance of dealing with my copy, and the pride I had in the goblins progress wasn't enough to fully block out the sorrow that I still felt. I could hide it as best as I could, but I would still feel the part of myself that was missing.


	5. Chapter 5

**A Vulpine Spanner in the Works  
Chapter 5: Local Meet and Greet**

I couldn't help but smirk as I watched the pep in Lukrut's walk as we both headed to the restaurant that he had recommended, it helped numb what I'd been feeling earlier. "At this time of day, most people would be tired from a long day of hard work, especially if they fought off a horde of goblins and ogres. What makes you so different?" I mused aloud.

"What can I say, Kashia? A beautiful goddess of a woman has accepted my proposition for a dinner! I would have to be an unfeeling undead to not be excited like I am now." Lukrut replied with sincerity, _not that he's completely wrong. You are a goddess_. In a way, I could understand his feelings quite perfectly. Back on Earth, I would jump for joy when a girl accepted my invitation to a date. Sadly, I was never able to make a relationship come out of any of those dates.

"Mind telling me about how you even found out about this restaurant? It would be a nice story to pass the time while we walk there." I asked Lukrut with some interest. I was betting on the reason behind this place being due to Lukrut bringing all his dates to the place.

The blond chuckled at my question and spoke, "Well, like Dyne and Ninya, I wasn't born in E-Rantel. I came from a small village called Signpass. Not much of an inspired name since we were based on a crossroad leading to E-Rantel, E-Pespel, and some small villages. We were essentially a rest stop for travelers."

"Trust me, Signpass isn't the worst name I've heard for a town. There have been much worse but go on." I remarked.

"Still, since we got so many travelers coming to and from the town, my cousin, Celica, was inspired to go to E-Rantel to start a living. She had managed to save up enough money to travel there, buy a cheap building, and turned it into a restaurant. When I eventually came to E-Rantel, I rented a room from her for a pretty cheap price until I could get onto my feet with an adventuring career." Lukrut finished.

"Sounds like your cousin has done pretty well for herself. You probably get a discount from there, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah, I do. But I still pay the full price if I can every time. Celica has helped me a lot in my earlier days, so I try to help her out as much as I can. Also helps that some of the girls working at her place are pretty cute," Lukrut quickly added in a panicked tone, "not that they have anything on you."

"Of course, you'd enjoy an establishment that employs attractive women." I remarked with amusement. The blond was a creature of habit, not exactly something that I didn't expect. Even with his endless fascination with the opposite gender, I didn't find it that off-putting.

"Yeah, I am average in that regard. But you aren't, mind telling me more about your life besides what you told us earlier today? Being a noble must have been much different than living like a commoner."

I thought about this for a moment. Making up a backstory for myself on the spot was a little difficult since I had never lived like a noble in my life on Earth. Though, modern amenities would seem like something kings would have. Time to adlib a backstory at the last minute.

"My homeland was a place full of magic and wonder. We had tall towers of metal, stone, and glass that seemed to touch the sky. My mother, Inari, was a queen of our land. She was kind, beautiful, though she did have a prankster streak. She supported the common people by giving them technology, food, and as much help as possible."

"Wow, your mother is much different than our nobles. The only noble that I know of who has helped the common people would be Princess Renner, and even she has issues with trying to do that because the other nobles try and hinder her attempts." Lukrut said, impressed.

"Our only nobles were my mother, my father, and my sisters and I. People like mayors were elected by the commoners, and they would come to my mother with their requests which she would help with if she could. Beyond that, I grew up being taught by my mother on a myriad of subjects, with training in the ways of magic taking a greater importance than everything else." To be honest, part of this backstory that I was making up was coming from a mix of the government from my home on Earth, and random fantasy tropes.

"My family has the trait of birthing very powerful magic users, so learning how to cast spells was a big must. After getting old enough, I gained a wanderlust to travel from home and explore the world, so I made my preparations, said my goodbyes, and left." I finished up the rest of my impromptu backstory quickly as I could since I didn't want any potential backstory to have holes in it that someone would notice.

Lukrut thought on what I said before speaking up, "Did you see interesting sights on your travels?" Now that was much easier to answer on the spot, I've had so much experience during my adventures in YGGDRASIL that I could choose any one of the hundreds of experiences I've had.

"You'll have to be a little more specific, Lukrut. I've seen a lot of strange things during my travels which makes it had to pick one specifically."

"What about something that you could say was the most memorable?" Something memorable, hmm? That is slightly easier to choose as I had a few moments that would forever stick with me during my time in YGGDRASIL.

"During my early of training, before I started traveling, I remember the day that I first used magic. I was completely captivated by the way a simple and weak fireball spell crackled in my palm." And it's true. When I first activated a spell in YGGDRASIL, I had been transfixed on how realistic looking the fire in my hand looked. I'm pretty sure that most players were like this when they first started playing the game.

It was a miracle of technology to be able to make the fantastical aspects of YGGDRASIL feel so realistic to the players. There were stories of YGGDRASIL players dying in real life because they never left the game and their bodies starved. Then again, I can't really blame them with the state that the world is in. Abandoning the shitty aspects of the real world for the amazing world of adventure that was YGGDRASIL was an extremely tempting choice.

What I decided to leave out of my answer to Lukrut was the fact that I had been so transfixed by my first spell that the weak, low-level monster that I'd been fighting managed to kill me. That was extremely embarrassing.

"Using my first spell made me completely throw myself into my magic studies, which is how I ended up so powerful." I enhanced my answer by making a small fireball grow to life in my hand. Lukrut's eyes were drawn to this mystical display, like a moth to the flame, until I crushed my hand into a fist, snuffing the fire out.

Lukrut looked back at my face and grinned. "I remember the first time I saw a mage cast their spells in battle, it was during my earlier guild days when I was pretty green. While the mage himself was unpleasing to they eye, compared to yourself, I stood and watched the mage summon a small troop of animals that completely decimated the monsters we were fighting."

"Why didn't that make you want to learn how to use magic if it was so awesome to you?"

Lukrut's smile slightly faltered as he glanced away, and he rubbed the back of his head. He then answered, "I wanted to learn, and I even asked the mage to train me. The guy looked at me, and immediately answered that I would never have the potential to learn magic as it would take many years for me to even learn a single 1st Tier spell. It was humbling to say the least."

"Oh." I replied with a small sense of shame at the way I had obviously brought up a topic that Lukrut was unhappy about. "Sorry, I didn't mean to talk about something that upsets you." The blond archer looked to me with a grin and a shake of his head.

"It's fine, Kashia. You didn't know, and I've accepted my limits even if I don't like it. And besides, with all the training I've done in archery, I'm able to take down enemies faster than a regular mage can finish getting a spell off. I'm also not hindered by a mana limit, only the number of arrows and weapons I have on me at the time." Lukrut answered in pride.

I couldn't help but smile at the upbeat tone that Lukrut exuded, it was almost enough to make me forget about everything upsetting that happened today. I really hope that I could shrug off what upset me the same way that Lukrut had.

"Enough about me though, mind telling me what your cousin is like? From what you said, it seems like the two of you are quite close to one another."

Lukrut put a hand under his chin in thought before answering, "The first thing I can think of when talking about Celly is kindness. She's like the older sister that I've never had, and when my mom died, she was there to help take care of my siblings and I. Celly raised me well, and she even taught me how to read."

This tidbit of information made me raise my eyebrow in surprise. While I knew that Lukrut had learned to read since it was a requirement to even join the Adventurer's Guild, I didn't expect that he'd learned while still at home. He was very lucky to have a family member that could read and teach him. "You mind answering how Celica learned to read? I was partially under the assumption that most farmers didn't have the tools and teachers to normally read."

"Good question. Actually, in my small village we only had three people that had learned to read. One was the town's Chief, who needed to read in order to communicate with the nobles when they sent their messages. The next was Relia, the innkeeper as well as my aunt, and she learned to read because it was extremely helpful for her job. Celly was taught to read by Relia, her mother."

"Makes sense. Does Re-Estize have multiple places to receive education or is it relegated to specific people and jobs?"

"The only places I know that you could go to learn in the kingdom would be the capital. While I know that there are some places in the different cities that can educate you, I have no idea where they might be located. Villages and towns outside the city have it worse as the only way that you can get an education is if you know someone who can teach you." Lukrut answered.

I was expecting to learn something like this for a while. In a society that was still stuck in the medieval ages, even with magic included, education wouldn't have as large of a focus compared to survival. Farmers and the like wouldn't have the time to be taught how to read since they needed to care for their crops and animals.

That gave me the idea to eventually add some sort of school to the settlement when it was more self-sufficient and had a bigger population. Having an educated populace would always be beneficial to society overall than if they were left without a clue about the world. I instinctually felt that an uneducated populace was wrong.

Leaving my future plans for another time, I said, "You cousin is a wise person to have taught you how to read."

"She really is. And, you might get to meet her soon because we've arrived at her restaurant!" Lukrut said excitedly. The building that we were heading towards had a cozy look to it, from the wooden paneling on the front, to the way that warm light streamed from the windows. The front door had people continually coming and going.

"Seems quite popular. Wonder how we'll get a seat?" I pondered aloud.

"No need to worry about that. While her place gets busy during the night, she tends to save me a table for when I come by with company." I gave the blond a sly look at his answer. He was really playing up the Casanova persona of his tonight. I just hope that his wallet is big enough to handle my appetite.

The moment we stepped into the restaurant; my nose was assaulted by a myriad of smells that almost overwhelmed my senses. The only reason that I was able to alleviate this sensory overload was by focusing on my own scent and breathing through my mouth. Thankfully, Lukrut didn't notice my moment weakness as I recovered before he spoke to me.

"I can see our table, follow me, Kashia." The blond said before he started maneuvering through the crowd with me following after him. While we moved through the crowd, a few of the "braver" patrons tried to grope me. They would quickly regret this as my invisible tails smacked them in retaliation.

"Assholes." I muttered under my breath before joining Lukrut at a booth in the corner with a paper nametag 'Lucky' written on it. Glancing at Lukrut, the blond took notice of me staring at the nametag before grabbing it from the table and pocketing it with reddened cheeks.

"Mind telling me what that was about?" I asked while taking a seat at the booth.

"It's a little bit of an embarrassing nickname that Celly has for me. She started calling me that after a strange childhood experience that we shared." I raised a question eyebrow but remained silent. Everyone was allowed to have their own secrets.

"It's so cute that you still get embarrassed about that, Lucky." A female voice interjected as a pretty woman with dirty blonde hair and green eyes walked over to Lukrut and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "I didn't think that it was that bad."

"Celly, come on, I'm trying to look good in front of Kashia." Lukrut whined, causing Celica and I to chuckle at the blond's discomfort. After both of us calmed down, Celica quickly scanned me with her eyes before she seemed satisfied.

"She's quite the looker, Lucky. You are really living up to your name if you managed to get a date with her." She then held out her hand to me which I shook. Her hand was quite rough; the sign of a person who's done hard work for much of their life. It made me respect her as, in my previous life, the people who worked the hardest were also usually the most honest.

"My name's Celica Volve, who might you be?"

"Kashia Blanc, a traveling adventurer and, as of recently, part of Lukrut's adventuring team." I replied. Celica smirked before looking back at Lukrut.

"I've heard some talk of you from some of the town guards that come in here. Apparently, you did a number on the undead in the graveyards. Lucky, make sure not to get on her bad side, else you're going to have a bad time." With that said, Celica removed her hand from Lukrut's shoulder and asked, "Now, we serve beef, stew, and fish. Drinks are whiskey, ale, water, and wine. What would you like?"

"The usual." Lukrut answered.

"I'm up for beef and ale." I replied. Celica nodded with a smile, and I noticed that she didn't even write our orders down on a notepad. If she was able to memorize our orders, then that meant she was a step ahead of the waiters back home.

"I'll bring your drinks up first. Food should be available in a few minutes." With that, she walked off and left Lukrut and I to ourselves.

The blond archer was the first to speak up, "Ale, huh? That your favorite drink or do you prefer something else?"

"Trust me, I have a very wide palette for alcohol. Personally, I've found my preference to be for tequila, vodka, and rum. But, I'm not one to pass up the odd beer every once in a while. Wines haven't always been to my taste, usually since they seem too soft in taste compared to other alcohols." After saying this, Lukrut maintained a confused expression at everything that I said.

"I've never heard of tequila and vodka before. Are those drinks that hail from your home?"

Resting my chin on my hands, I recalled what I knew about alcohol, which was considerable since drinking was one way to alleviate the shithole that Earth was. "To explain it easily enough, vodka is distilled from plants containing starch or a high sugar content. It usually lacks flavor of normal alcohols, but it's great to mix other drinks with. Tequila is a drink that is distilled only from the blue agave plant," Back home, the blue agave plant was one of the few exports that came from Mexico, as well as one of the species of plants we hadn't eradicated yet, "which gave the drink a unique flavor."

"Sounds good. I wish that you could've brought some of those drinks over so I could try them. Your land must've been very creative if they could make even more types of alcohol than what we have here." Lukrut remarked in interest.

To be honest, I could probably recreate some of the alcohols from my world with my Alchemist class. Potentially, I'd be able to corner the entire drinking industry in the world with my scientific knowledge from my world and the abilities I have from YGGDRASIL. Maybe I could make alcohol an export from the goblin settlement?

"The land I came from was quite advanced, and since a lot of our survival needs were cared for, we were able to focus more on creative and scientific disciplines that less automated civilizations lacked the time for. It's slightly why I'm disappointed with this country's lack of education." I explained. While I had been busy explaining aspects of Earth, Celica had already brought us our drinks.

"Mind explaining what disappoints you about Re-Estize's education? I've rarely heard of adventurers speak about it." Celica interjected in interest.

Picking up my tankard of ale and taking a large gulp from it, I answered, "When a society has education hard to find for its citizens, that causes the society to have slow scientific and technological advances. Back home, our advances came from the focus we had on educating our citizens, with mandatory schooling for children."

"Really? I've never heard of an idea being implemented anywhere in the Re-Estize kingdom, though I'm unsure about the other countries around us, but I'd guess they might be similar to us." Celica said in interest.

"From what I've learned, education isn't widely given in countries with class systems. The nobles would rather have the populace remain uneducated and ignorant than knowledgeable and filled with ideas. It's a method of control." I made this assumption from what I've learned of history. Organizations like the Catholic church tried to quell the sciences in order to remain in power during feudal eras.

Lukrut sipped on his drink before speaking, "I'd be careful of speaking about the nobles very loudly. While Celly and I aren't bothered by it," Lukrut cautiously glanced around us before finishing, "some people are, and they talk."

So, the nobles are very petty and suppress criticisms made against them. That was slightly troubling. It didn't worry me if they tried to attack me, as I could easily obliterate any attackers, but if I did gain their ire, then it would be harder to make connections and those I interact with could be hurt.

"Have you had issues with the pompous twits?" I asked, keeping references to the nobles at a minimum.

Lukrut followed what I was saying with a short chuckle before answering, "Until a few years ago, slavery was legal in the Re-Estize. Doesn't mean that the twits have completely stopped it as there is enough talk and proof to show that it's still a large business." I could feel my grip tighten, and I didn't doubt that if I wasn't wearing gloves, then I'd be able to see my knuckles turning white.

"Slavery is still a practice here? How could people here be so barbaric?" This anger I felt was primal. The act of taking someone's freedom by such a process as slavery pushed upon me instinctually. _Those who treat sentient beings as nothing more than objects are the worst kind of scum_.

The blond archer seemed to decide on what his next word were, then he answered, "Since it's a lucrative business, quite a few of the twits support it. You'll hear stories of people disappearing from towns and cities. While some of those people may have been killed or went into hiding, about half of those cases will be due to slavers kidnapping a person off the street." Lukrut took a large swig of his ale before continuing.

"Sometimes the twits don't even bother to hide what they're doing. Ninya's sister was one of the many victims who was forced into slavery by a twit that took a liking to her." My eyes widened at his statement. Ninya's sister was enslaved? I could feel the fur of my tails standing on end, and it took some effort to keep a calm expression in front of Lukrut.

This would not stand! I would not let the sister of my student suffer like this! New plan; talk to Ninya and get information about her sister, as well as a possible item of hers. Then, I will scry out her location and free her and any other soul that had also been enslaved. After that, interrogate slavers about whatever slave ring existed, and then kill everyone.

Upon finishing the intricacies of my new plan, I chugged down the rest of my ale, much to the surprised looks of Lukrut and Celica. When I set down my tankard, I kept my voice under control, "How long ago did Ninya's sister get taken?"

"A little under two years. Ninya doesn't talk about it that much, but his whole goal as an adventurer is to one day rescue his sister from the twit that took her."

Two years was a long time to be enslaved under a noble, especially one that 'took a liking' to her. This isn't even considering the possibility that she may have been sold to another group when the noble grew bored of her. "I'll talk to Ninya about this tomorrow when I get back to E-Rantel. I'd rather have him focused on whatever job you guys are doing than to be distracted because of my prying."

"If that's what you want to do, I'll tell Ninya that you want to speak with him at the guild after we're done with our job. Mind telling me what you plan to talk to him about?"

"Just a few queries between him and I. Since he's my student now, it's now my responsibility to make sure that he is doing well." I answered with a half-truth. Certainly, I'd be analyzing Ninya's mental state and how she was doing, but I would also tell her what I planned to do.

Lukrut shrugged and sipped on his drink. At the same time, I noticed that Celica had disappeared into the crowd once more, probably to take care of other patrons besides us. "When did Ninya become your student? This is the first time that I'm hearing about it."

"We talked about it on the way back to E-Rantel. I felt that he had the potential to become a great mage, so I agreed to teach him." I then gave the archer a sly grin before adding, "And, I get to endlessly tease him with no repercussions." Lukrut snorted in amusement.

"Then I wish Ninya good luck. Though, if you want to tease someone, I'm always right here for you, my beautiful sorceress." Rolling my eyes, I leaned over the table and lightly flicked the blond's forehead.

"You lack any kind of shame that would make such an activity entertaining. And besides, all that I need to do to make you braindead is unbutton some of my dress." I retorted.

"Shame." The blond said in an almost mournful tone as he drank his ale. Right on time, Celica came back to our table with our dishes in hand. With a skillful grace, she weaved between the crowds without spilling a single morsel of our food. "And the amazing food has arrived!"

Lukrut was handed a wooden bowl filled with steaming stew that looked quite delectable while I was given a plate with a slab of beef and bread. I wondered if Celica had all the food cooked in large batches or if each meal was made individually? Making the food in a large batch would explain how quickly our food arrived. Then again, I'm also ignoring the possibility of using magic to cook food, so who knows. I've got my food.

Even better, Celica had another tankard of ale prepared for me. "Hope you both enjoy your meals. I'd love to stick around and continue to tease my little cousin, but I've got a lot of hungry visitors to feed. I'll check on you both a bit later." And once more, the blonde flowed back into the crowd.

We quickly started to dig into our food, and I am happy to say that Celica's cooking was delicious. It went like this for a while, Lukrut and I eating and chatting about random subjects. It was pretty average until we started trying to outdrink each other. It got serious enough that other patrons of the restaurant started watching us in interest.

At this point, Lukrut and I had six tankards finished, and both of us were working on our seventh. Even though Lukrut had been downing his ales like a champ, his limit was becoming quite apparent. "You-you gonna surrender yet? You are starting to wobble." The archer asked as he chugged down the rest of his tankard.

"The ale must be hitting you harder than you thought because I'm not the one who's wobbling, that would be you." I retorted after slamming my empty tankard onto the table. Lukrut's face was completely flushed while his body swayed. In comparison, I was only lightly buzzed with a slightly warm face.

This contest was a little unfair for Lukrut as he lacked a lot of advantages I had. For instance, while my body looked like that of a regular sized woman, my nine tails and large ears gave me a lot more body mass compared to Lukrut. And, even though I was trying to suppress my passive ability **[Poison Immunity]**, it still nullified a bit of the alcohol in my body. If I wasn't suppressing my passive, I'd be completely sober.

"Right. You're just-just trying to p-play off what you drank…" Upon saying this, Lukrut's head hit the table with a thump as the sound of snoring filled our ears. I raised my hands in celebration while the onlookers who had been betting on me cheered in victory.

With the entertainment finished, the crowd slowly dispersed to either the exits or other parts of the restaurant. The only person to approach our table was a laughing Celica. "About time that one of Lucky's dates outdrank him. I'd buy you a drink in celebration, but I think that you are probably tired of ale at this point."

Leaning back in my seat, I nodded with her remark. "Yeah, I think that's enough to drink tonight." Looking back at Lukrut's unconscious form, I asked, "Any idea on what to do with Lukrut? I don't know where he lives, so that might hinder my ability to get him home."

Celica waved me off with an appreciative look, "Don't worry, I have a spare bed set aside for guests just in case. It's not the first time Lucky has gotten too drunk to walk home. I'll get Sebastian to carry him to his bed. And, don't worry about paying for the food and drinks, I don't charge Lucky or his friends for services here."

I nodded in thanks before getting up from my booth. "Thanks for the food and service, the beef was delicious." Reaching into the pouch at my waist, I pulled out a vial filled with a red liquid before setting it on the table. It was a simple healing potion that I could easily make more of. "Give this to him in the morning, it'll help him with the headache."

After saying this, I left the restaurant with a full stomach and a new collection of embarrassing moments over Lukrut's head. Happy moments like these made living in this world more bearable and took my mind off of everything I had learned from Loki earlier. I still couldn't help but wonder what being had pulled me into this world, and for what reason they had done so in the first place.

Too many questions with too little answers. And, then there was the warning Loki gave me about batches of players being brought into this world instead of individual players. That made me nervous as I couldn't predict how someone may act upon arriving here. They may act as a benevolent newcomer or, what I was more inclined to assume, a ruthless tyrant.

Call it the pessimist in me, but when someone is given power that cannot be challenged, they usually tend to abuse that power for selfish means. I'm actually slightly worried about becoming a tyrant myself. Keeping my morals would be a test of my willpower which I couldn't fail. _You were chosen by Freyja to help those in need. _Maybe that's true.

While game mechanics ruled YGGDRASIL, the gods were still aware of things that involved them. If Freyja hadn't given me lectures since I arrived in this new world, then I must be doing something right. At least I could take solace with that knowledge…

**Day 4:**

As I stood in front of the Great Forest, I couldn't help but feel curious about what secrets hid within the massive maze of trees just waiting to be discovered. Even though this urge to explore tugged at me, I had to push it down because I had a job to do. Time to find this Big One.

Taking a sniff of the air, I noted two things; the stench of the ogres was easy to find despite the myriad of scents coming from the forest's edge, and there weren't any humans nearby to see me in my true form. I couldn't help but smile as I let my disguise disperse to reveal my true form.

Time to greet the locals in my own personal style. Stepping into the threshold of the forest, I slowly started making my way through the woods while also following the scent of ogres that permeated the woods. One problem with walking into a territory that lacked humans encroaching upon it was the difficult terrain that made walking any annoying chore.

I had to step over roots and branches, bypass bushes and other shrubbery, and avoid tripping over myself. This would've been a large hindrance to any other person, but after becoming annoyed enough with the terrain I used my simple spell **[Spellblade]** to chop apart anything in my way. Doing this made my journey so much easier.

After walking through the forest for a while, the stench of ogre became a lot more intense, making me think that I had arrived at where I needed to be. This is exactly what I believed until I entered a small clearing that was filled with trampled earth, animal bones, and piles of shit and piss.

Damn it, this was going to be more complicated than I originally thought.

From what I'm going to guess, a small group of ogres had taken rest here before moving on. Looking at some of the deep footprints made by the heavy bodies of the ogres, I estimated that this group consisted of four or five ogres. A quick sniff of the air told me that this group was made up of all males.

My eyes traced the path of the tracks which led further into the trees. Now, while I could just continue to follow the scents within the forest, it could also lead me to another ogre shithouse that lacked any of the ogres I was looking for. The best bet is to follow the trail the ogres here had made and see if they could lead me to my target.

After making my decision, I stopped walking and started to jog along the trail to catch up to my _prey_ much faster. From the scents coming from the ogre tracks, they were made about two hours ago. That was going to be a lot of catchup work on my part.

And so, I jogged along the trail for what felt like half an hour until I found myself before a massive cave entrance. This certainly seemed like a place that ogres would rest in, and taking a sniff in the air, I noted that there was a new scent mixed in with the ogres. This was the stench of trolls.

Actually, a troll taking over this section of the forest and ruling ogres wasn't unbelievable. In YGGDRASIL, trolls were seen as a minibosses compared to ogres. They could regenerate unless attacked with acid and fire and had much greater strength than ogres. I've seen players under level 20 get slaughtered by trolls because they couldn't hurt it faster than it healed. I couldn't blame newer players for this as they lacked the knowledge of a troll's weaknesses, though any player over level 30 would easily out-damage their healing.

This would be a very simple task to handle if it came down to violence and considering that the ogres in this world were quite violent, I wouldn't doubt that this Big One was even moreso. It would be up to the Big One and any others with him to fight me or surrender.

I couldn't help but smirk as I strutted into the cave with as much swagger as I could muster. From what I've learned, showing a ridiculous amount of confidence before one's enemies was an excellent demoralizing tactic. It's one thing to see a person calmly walk into battle and be worried, it was a totally different matter if that same person was literally skipping into battle with a shit-eating grin on their face.

It was simple to hear the chatter of the inhabitants in the cave as I got closer along with spotting the bones and trash from previous meals. Some of them were humanoid in shape, alerting me that they were more than willing to devour sapient beings.

After rounding a corner, I came face to face with a large group that was a mix between trolls and ogres. I easily spotted the biggest troll in the cave glaring down at me with yellow eyes that were enhance by the large tusks jutting from his lip and large nose. He was green, like baby vomit, and covered in many layers of muscles that could no doubt allow him to easily pop a normal human's head like a cherry. Held in his right hand was a massive cleaver larger than I was.

"Knock knock. We need to talk." I said while stepping towards the troll with immense confidence.

"Who dares to intrude upon my territory?! You look similar to a human, yet your smell and animal parts of yours say otherwise!" The Big One demanded in rage.

"My name's Kashia." As I said this, I was seven meters away from him while continuing to stride forwards. "From what I've heard, you're known as the Big One, and you've been the reason for many ogres fleeing south."

"You know this, and still you come to before me. You certainly are brave, beast woman. I am Guu, ruler of the East." The troll remarked with a chuckle.

"It's very polite of you to tell me your name. What's the reason?" I asked as I finally stood a meter away from Guu with my head craned upwards to meet his gaze with mine.

Guu hefted his cleaver over his shoulder and barked out a laugh before answering, "I like to let those I kill know the name of their killer. But I respect the bravery that you've shown to even stand before me, so I'll let you tell me what you wished to say before I kill you."

Placing my hands on my hips, I spoke, "I'm here to give you an ultimatum. Surrender to me as your new boss or leave this territory. Your activities here have been causing ogres to flee south and come into conflict with the humans living there. If not stopped, the humans will eventually send an army to deal with it which will create needless death."

After saying this, Guu and all his followers openly laughed at my demands, disbelieving that a small woman like myself could ever threaten them. I let them have their fun because it would be all the sweeter to watch them drop their jaws as they realized how much stronger I am to them.

Eventually, Guu found his voice once more, "Beast woman, that is the most amusing thing I've heard in a long time! I'll make sure to add your head to my belt after I finish removing it from your body." Upon saying this, he swung his sword down upon me with the intention to kill me. I took it as well as a mosquito trying to bite me, and I had two of my tails catch the sword strike before wrapping them around the blade.

I stabbed two of my tails into the ground to anchor myself and smirked at the confused look on Guu's face. "What was that about taking my head? I'm sorry to inform you but I like my pretty little head attached to my neck. Now, let's try this again…" With barely any effort, I ripped the sword away from Guu and let my tails hold the blade aloft for a moment.

Then, I snapped the blade in half and dropped the pieces at Guu's feet. "You will either accept me as your new boss, and I can make it worth your while, leave this territory, or _die_. I am being very kind to you right now, don't test me." After saying this, I noticed that many of Guu's followers were looking at him for his leadership.

Guu growled in rage before attempting to smash me with his fist. Like the sword, my tails easily maneuvered in front of his fist and blocked the punch. Then another one of my tails whipped him in the face and sent him toppling into the ground. "You beast bitch! You were funny at first, but now I'm angry!" My eyebrow rose up at his enthusiastic name calling.

When he finally stood back up, I slammed a tail at his legs and made him fall once again. "Trust me, Guu, stay down because I'm not letting you stand back up." Even with my warning, the troll continued to try standing. In return, I'd send him back face-first into the dirt.

Even though I could easily kill him right now, I didn't as I was trying to send every troll and ogre in this cave a message. From what I'd learned of the ogres yesterday, they valued strength above all else. The way I seemed to just toy with Guu was letting every being in this cave know that I've got so much strength that I don't even need to treat this fight seriously. This continued on for a few more minutes, and I watched realization dawn in the eyes of every single being in the cave.

"Stop your stupid tricks!" Guu shouted in frustration. "Everyone, attack the beast bitch!" While Guu seemed confident that his followers would obey him, that quickly ebbed away when none of his followers came near us. "You idiots! I said attack her!" Still, none of them moved. "Help me!"

"I'm sorry to inform you, but all of them have finally understood the lesson that you have not." I chided with the tone of a disappointed parent.

"What lesson!? They follow me, I am the strongest!" Guu barked back with rage burning in his yellow eyes.

"No, the lesson that all of them have learned is that I'm the top bitch now. I've barely done anything but toy with you this entire time. You, on the other hand, have been doing everything to put a single scratch on me." I lectured, much to Guu's ever increasing rage.

"Shut up! They obey me!" Even though the troll channeled a lot of his emotion into that statement, even he seemed to start losing all that bluster from earlier. To prove a point to him, I shouted out to everyone in the cave.

"The strongest person is made leader of all of you. Who is right now the strongest?" To punctuate my point, I crushed Guu's head into the ground, creating a small growing crater, much to the pained moans of the troll.

For a few moments, the tolls and ogres in the cave seemed hesitant to answer, but eventually an ogre spoke out, "Kashia is stronger." With that declaration made, if was soon followed by a chorus of agreement from the other being in the cave.

"Who should be your leader?"

This time, they answered much faster, "Kashia!"

Looking back down to my beaten foe, I spoke, "Your followers have made their choice. What will you decide?"

"I will never follow a pink-skinned beast bitch!" He made one last struggle to stand, but I swiftly ended this attempt by stabbing my tail through his brain until it exited the other side. For a few moments, his body froze in place, then I pulled out my tail and watched as his body collapsed lifelessly to the ground, with only a few twitches giving any sign of life to the troll.

Looking up from the corpse at my feet, my eyes panned around the cave before I decided to speak, "I am Kashia Blanc, a kitsune from a foreign land! I give you all a choice; you can accept me as your leader and be provided for or you can leave this place under the agreement that I am the ruler of this territory and that all other intelligent beings are to be left alone and not attacked!"

For a few tense moments, no one moved. Then, a troll approached me and kneeled. This started a cascade of movement as most of the inhabitants bowed to me, while some left the cave untouched. While some with power like mine would've not given them the option to walk away, I couldn't do that. I believed everyone should have a choice to join a group or leave, otherwise it was too similar to slavery.

Still, I couldn't help but smile at the newest additions to the settlement. "Everyone, I will make a portal to a settlement that I'm the leader of. When you step through, you'll be given jobs, food, and housing. While I'm gone, the person in charge is the hobgoblin Muap. Welcome to the settlement." As I said this, I created a portal next to me. Muap and my copy would be able to deal with our newest additions while I continued working.

It took a short amount of time for everyone to enter the portal until I was left as the only remaining inhabitant. Afterwards, I shut down the portal and exited the cave with a sense of accomplishment. The best reward for getting so much done today was a nice trip to the lake!

Casting the spell **[Fly]**, I floated up into the air to get my bearings. It didn't take much for me to spot the blue water of the lake in the distance, and upon doing so I cast **[Teleport]** to arrive at the edge of it.

With a snap of my fingers, all of the clothing besides my underwear and World Item were stored into my inventory as I took a glance at the large lake before me. To be honest, it was slightly strange to see the waters of this lake look so clean. Back home on Earth, I'd been to Lake Michigan once, and it had been filled with garbage, sewage, and dead wildlife.

It was pretty ironic that we trashed that lake so badly when it was one of the only sources of drinkable water in the world. From what I remember, about a decade ago they passed a law that gave life imprisonment for dumping in any lake. Too bad that law was put in place too late to actually matter.

This would be the first natural body of water that I'll have ever jumped into in my life, and I wasn't going to waste this opportunity. With a running start, I jumped from the shore and began swimming to my content. The water wasn't too cold or warm which made swimming a joy.

One convenient thing about my tails was that due to their length, and how shallow the water was, I could lay back and let my tails act as stilts to keep me afloat. Letting the light of the sun warm me, I wondered if this was what living decades ago was like. If so, then I could get used to little moments like this.

Eventually, I closed my eyes and floated atop the water. My ears could pick up all the sounds the wildlife made around me both on the land and in the water. After a while, I think I began dozing off as my tails aimlessly ferried me across the water.

What pulled me out of my relaxed state was when I heard a voice calling out to me, "Hey! Are you alright?" With a soft sigh, I decided to answer without opening my eyes.

"Yeah, just taking a swim and relaxing." I answered back.

"While I don't want to ruin your relaxation, you're about to break the netting of my fishery." He stated. I opened my eyes and looked around until I spotted a rudimentary fishery made up of poles and nets that I was slowly drifting to.

"Sorry, I probably dozed off." I answered as I let my feet touch the mud floor of the lake. "Nice fishery, you make it?" I asked as I squeezed some water out of my hair before turning to see this person. Well, I didn't expect to meet a lizard person today. Neat…

"Yes, it was a technique I learned from traveling to other places. Though, even though I've seen a lot of strange things during my journeys, I'm not sure I've ever encountered any of your kind before." The lizardman retorted. He was taller than me, with dark brown scales and a light cream color on his underside, intelligent hazel eyes, and a large red brand on his chest. While he was certainly unique, what really caught my attention was the weapon strapped to his side that looked like it was made from a chunk of ice. That weapon seemed to radiate a small amount of mana from it.

Walking out of the water and to the shore, I instinctually shook my tails back and forth to remove some of the water on my fur. I probably looked like a weird dog doing so. "I doubt you would. My kind is a bit rare, and my home is extremely far away." I answered as I walked over to the lizardman.

"Either way, we rarely get travelers in these parts. Any reason that you came here today?" While the lizardman's question seemed quite innocent, I also noticed that his arm was tensed to draw his weapon out.

"When I first arrived in this country and heard that it had a massive lake up north, I had planned to come here eventually. Today was convenient to do so as I had to take care of some business in the forest." I answered before holding out my hand to the lizardman. "I'm Kashia, mind introducing yourself?"

For a moment, the lizardman held back but he eventually returned the handshake, "Zaryusu. It's nice to meet a fellow traveler without having to leave home. How long have you been on the road?"

"A few years now. I just arrived in this country a few days ago and I've been exploring what I could. Though, I did so in a less conspicuous form to fit in with the populace." I answered while demonstrating my shapeshifting to Zaryusu.

He grinned at my display, "That trick would've been very convenient when I traveled near human settlements. A lot of them aren't the friendliest to non-humans. Got chased out of a few towns because they thought I'd eat their babies." I couldn't help but smirk at Zaryusu's remark.

"That ability of mine part of the reason you've never seen any of my kind before now. The kitsune have a proclivity to be shy and are well-versed in the use of illusions so it's hard to spot us. It could be that you've encountered a kitsune before, and just didn't know it." I then added with a smirk, "That'll probably make you a bit paranoid the next time you enter a place with a lot of humans."

"I'll take your word for it the next time I arrive at a human settlement." Zaryusu joked before glancing at his fishery. I followed his gaze and let my eyes follow the schools of fish swim within the confines of the netting.

"Something interesting about your fishery that I don't know about?" I said with growing curiosity. From what Zaryusu said before, the technology of a fishery was quite new to him. An advancement like this made me very interested depending on if his society was more typically based upon the hunter-gatherer mindset.

Zaryusu looked back to me with an intelligent gaze before replying, "Sorry, I'm just getting lost in thought about my plans for the fishery. I've only recently started this project, and the future of my tribe might depend upon if this works or not."

"I'm going to guess that your tribe has problems with a food shortage?" It was the most logical guess if Zaryusu's tribe was depending on the success of this fish farm. While the design of the fishery, which consisted of a series of poles stabbed into the ground and netting running between the poles, was quite rudimentary it still had potential for advancement.

"Not just my tribe, all the lizardmen tribes have been suffering a food shortage." That seemed strange. Considering the size of this lake, there should be more than enough food to catch from the waters. Another variable must be somehow involved in the food shortage that I just wasn't seeing yet.

"Mind telling me more about this food shortage. How did it begin in the first place?"

"That is a bit of a story while standing around out here-" He didn't get the chance to finish as I snapped my fingers and watched a befuddled expression cross Zaryusu's face as a pair of chairs and a table were conjured before his eyes. One of the upsides of having **[Chosen of Loki]** as a class is that it made my illusions physical where they once were intangible. Helped for conjuring party tricks like this.

"Would you like to take a seat; I have a lot of time to spare for listening." I invited the lizardman as I took a seat in the conjured wooden chair. Hesitantly, Zaryusu took up my offer and tentatively sat in the chair, acting as if it would disappear from under him. At the same time, I conjured a fluffy robe to cover myself.

"I take it that you're a strong magic-user if you can so casually conjure up items from thin air." Zaryusu remarked.

"Very strong. But that isn't important right now, your food shortage is."

A puzzled expression grew on Zaryusu's face at my answer. "You're the first outsider that has ever found interest in the lizardmen tribes' plight. Why does it interest you so much?"

"Your problems are something that I've had personal experience with. Since I have the ability to help, it would be wrong of me to let a group of people die of starvation." I couldn't hide the emotion in my voice as I said this. On Earth, the amount of times that I'd seen people starving on the streets was uncountable. Part of the problem came from how there was less usable land that wasn't polluted with refuse and heavy emissions, livestock being harder to raise due to said pollution, and the difficulty in finding a job that would let you afford to eat.

While places like India, Africa, and China had it the worst due to either a high population, poor GDP, or unusable land, first-world countries still had difficulty in feeding their own. When you had essentially an oligarchy running the country as well as many menial jobs being automated, the prices of goods skyrocketed.

So, hearing that Zaryusu's people were starving hit me a little too close to home, especially after everything that happened yesterday. Leaving my former world behind gave me the perspective to know how I could help this new world, _and I'd be damned if I let this world become like my old one_.

"Then, I guess I should start at the beginning. About a generation ago, the seven lizardmen tribes migrated to the Great Lake in search of a new home. While this seemed like a fortuitous location, the tribes were proven wrong by the toadmen who also inhabited the lake. A war between our two peoples occurred with the lizardmen ending as the losers. Because of this, we were forced from the better northern territories of the lake and down to the southern end, where food is less abundant for us. This war also caused the disbanding of one of the seven tribes, leaving only six left."

"Why couldn't your people and the toadmen come to some type of agreement? There is probably more than enough food for either group in this lake." Even though I was trying to be optimistic, I could already guess why the two groups came into conflict.

Moments later and my thoughts were proven correct by Zaryusu, "The toadmen saw us as invaders in their home. Beyond that, compared to the toadmen, people are less technologically advanced and are seen as barbarians to the toadmen. There's was too much of a cultural divide between our peoples to find a middle ground in such a short time. Conflict was inevitable, and afterwards our tribes warred with one another due to there being less food in the southern end of the lake. After that conflict, only five tribes remain today."

"I see now. I have a question; what can the lizardman normally eat? Are you limited to just fish or do you have a wider appetite?"

"We're typically omnivorous, though the territory of the lake makes it difficult to farm as we lack the skills to raise crops and the wetland only allows for certain edible vegetation to grow which isn't native to this lake. We mainly subside on fish due to it being the most readily available food source." Resting my chin in my hand, I deliberated on a decision that could benefit both Zaryusu's people and myself.

"Here's an idea of mine that could work to help both your people and mine. Right now, I've been working on building up a settlement that could act as a bastion for equality among all races. It's still a work in progress but we've got a decent size consisting of goblins, hobgoblins, ogres, and trolls. During this, I've been teaching the inhabitants different skills, with one of those skills being farming."

Zaryusu shared a look of interest at what I'd said which told me that he wasn't averse to a proposal of mine, "I have been working on expanding the settlement, and due to my abilities, I'm able to easily alter large sections of land for whatever purpose I have. From this, I could easily create terrain similar to your lake's which could be converted into multiple fisheries that your people could maintain. It would add another food source that could feed both of our groups, more diversity to the settlement, which at this point should be considered a small town, and allow for both of our peoples to share knowledge with one another."

"While your idea seems good in theory, my tribe would take a lot of convincing to even consider looking into some of your proposal, and that's not even accounting for them leaving their homes for a location that is completely unknown. Even though you are giving a very generous offer, I've only just met you and have no proof to any of your claims." Zaryusu respectfully replied.

I nodded in understanding as I already foresaw a bit of reluctance in this idea. Zaryusu needed something more substantial than just simple promises. This is what gave me an idea on how to show Zaryusu my claims to be more than cheap promises. "Then let me show you, if you'll put a little bit of trust in me." I said with an optimistic tone.

"They say the first step in a good relationship is to show trust, and it is my duty to my tribe to bring back things that could aid them. I'm willing to see what you may offer to my people, but I warn you that if this is a trick, I will not hesitate to do what it takes to protect my tribe." He ended with a pat to the ice weapon at his side.

"I promise you that no harm will befall you or your people from what I plan to show you, and I don't break my promises. Now, let's start this off with my first magic spell!" I said excitedly, like a magician performing a magic show, as I dismissed the robe I was wearing and reequipped my normal outfit. "**[Charm Species]**!" I announced as I cast the spell, making sure to avoid the fish in the fishery. Instead, my targets were the fish within a hundred-yard radius of me.

"Come to me, please!" I shouted across the water and watched the water of the lake quickly begin rippling as fish rushed to swim over to me. It's one thing to see an NPC creature that's programmed to follow a request and another thing entirely to see real creatures do the same. Damn do I love magic.

Eventually, a large mass of fish consisting of a myriad of species just swim about near the lake shore. "Could all of you wait right here for a minute or two. I'll be right back." With that said, I turned to Zaryusu, "Now, for my next trick, I'll transport us from one place to another. **[Greater Teleportation]**!" In that instant, both Zaryusu and I disappeared from the Great Lake and appeared atop one of the walls overlooking and protecting the settlement.

Zaryusu seemed momentarily dazed from being transported from one location to another, but when he steadied himself, he looked in awe at the settlement before him. Due to my duplicate helping out in the settlement's expansion, there was now a large amount of buildings dotting the landscape.

Located on either side of the front gate were two large towers that were made using the** [Create Fortress]** spell. From the number of ogres and or trolls entering or exiting the structures, I had to guess that they were guard towers. But while the towers were about thirty or so meters high, they didn't compare to the circular building in the center of the, let's call it a town at this point, that was about sixty meters high and had a forty-meter circumference. Was that a town hall?

At the left corner of the wall by the gate was a large farm that had been dug out by the combined efforts of the ogres and goblins. Further north of the farm and front gate were many buildings of different sizes that had replaced the simple earthen huts from yesterday. Even now, I could see my copy creating more houses for the influx of new citizens.

On the right side of the front gate was a rudimentary lumber mill that had a couple of ogres and trolls hacking and sawing through tree trucks to make wooden planks and pillars. By the pond, I saw a building that had smoke billowing from a chimney as a few goblins were hard at work cooking some type of stew for citizens to eat.

The shack my clone had made by the pond had also been renovated to look like a cozy cabin. The space past the shack already had goblins and ogres installing fencing for a potential animal pen. My copy works fast, I'll give her that. We started from sticks and blankets and now have moved up to buildings that match the craftsmanship of those in E-Rantel.

Still, while the updated architecture was a pleasure to look at, it wasn't part of my task at hand. Turning to an empty section of forest outside the wall we were on, I made a quick layout plan for what I planned to do. "Zaryusu, if you think the village is amazing, you'll be floored when you see my next magic trick." Saying this caused the lizardman to take his eyes off the village and look at me.

Then, I said, "**[Creation]**!" And watched magic circles form up around me as the spell charged up. When the spell was finally finished charging, I unleashed my will upon the very land itself and watched as trees in a five-acre radius were pushed off to the side and merged into other trees. Next, the treeless section of land cratered until it had varying depths that reached a few hundred feet. At this moment, it looked like a large canyon.

That changed as a moment later, the canyon began to rapidly fill up with water until an entire lake was quickly created before our very eyes. To finish this off, I created a new gate in the wall facing the gate to allow for easier access as well as seven-meter-high walls to surround the lake. When I was finally finished, I turned to Zaryusu and grinned.

"What do you think?" Zaryusu didn't even speak as he looked from me and back to the lake I had just created within two minutes.

He eventually found his voice and spoke, "A-Are you a god?"

"Maybe." I couldn't help but tease him about my divinity, "Now, I wouldn't fully react just yet if I were you. I'm not done yet. **[Greater Teleportation]**!" Once more, the two of us were teleported back to the Great Lake in front of my adoring schools of fish. Made me really feel like the comic character Aquaman right now.

"**[Gate]**!" I said as a portal appeared in the water of the lake. "Can all of you fish please enter this gate to a new lake I just made?" The fish followed my request again and I watched as hundreds of fish splashed into the portal which led into my artificially created lake.

Now, I was done. "And, just like that I've created a new body of water with its own ecosystem. How does my offer look now?"

"This is something beyond impossible. Who and or what are you? The spells you cast were things rumored to belong to the realm of gods, and yet you casually display them without any effort." Zaryusu said quickly as his brain tried to comprehend my awesome power.

"I'm just a traveler who is creating herself a new home and trying to make this world a better place. The power I have doesn't matter as much as the intent I have to help other with them is. My offer to you is not forced, and you can decline it or make a new offer if that is what you wish. I'm just here to help." While Zaryusu still seemed a bit perturbed by the revelation of my powers, he also lost some of the tenseness in his stance at my words.

"What you've shown me is something that I need to tell the rest of my tribe about. This offer of yours is too important for only me to decide upon, the chief and elders of my tribe must debate over this subject. If you were to follow my back to my village, you could bring your proposal for them to hear." Zaryusu answered in a serious tone. It seemed like my demonstration worked to nudge his opinion on my offer for him and his tribe.

What I was also interested in, following the consensus of Zaryusu's tribe, was if I could reach out to the four other lizardmen tribes. If I could get them to agree with joining my village, that would greatly enhance the village's growth. The large influx of citizens might also get more beings to notice and wish to join us. Though, I would have to take care about the Re-Estize kingdom as they might not take kindly to a growing power within their borders.

_They will never harm those under my protection! I will not allow it!_ I would fight off all enemies to come to _my_ village. If any wished to harm _my_ people, then they would face the full wrath of a kitsune demigoddess.

"Take me to your people whenever you're ready. But, if this decision were up to you, what would your choice be?" I asked with curiosity.

"Kashia, if you wanted to destroy my people and I, there's no doubt that it would be an effortless process for you. You are giving us the choice on whether to join your or not and providing us land and the possibility to create a sustainable food source is too good of an offer to ignore. I'd accept it immediately because the future you offer to the tribe is more certain that what we have now. I'm also still convinced that you are some kind of god, meaning that we'd literally be receiving divine assistance." Zaryusu answered.

"Fair enough."


	6. Chapter 6

**A Vulpine Spanner in the Works  
Chapter 6: Zaryusu: The Unexpected Goddess**

Even with everything that I was shown and told by the stranger known as Kashia, I still half expected that this entire meeting was something closer to a dream than a reality. Everything about this woman was a mystery that I couldn't yet solve. She gave no definitive answer to her divinity, and yet she cast spells that were beyond anything I'd ever seen before.

Without effort, she created a lake and populated it with fish that she commanded to obey her orders. She cast a form of a teleportation spell and moved hundreds of fish, and the two of us, to a small village filled with goblins, ogres, and trolls that were working together. From encountering enough of those species, I know that it's rare to see a large number of them working together but having an entire village full of them not fighting each other was on an entirely different level from the small groups that I'd seen before.

And then there was Kashia's species. She claimed to be of the kitsune race, and yet I've never once heard of them in all my travels. There should've been some story or tale of humans who had multiple tails, and yet nothing existed on them that I should've learned from somewhere. Even with her claim that the kitsune were a race that was shy, one of them should've been sighted or at least heard of by now.

The one thing that I did believe was her good intentions for my people. Her overwhelming magical prowess could easily destroy my people and we'd be unable to stop it. Even if her strongest ability was to alter the very land itself, that would be more than enough to cover my village under a layer of rock. And, that was if her land altering ability was her strongest ability, there could be something else that she hadn't even revealed to me that could trump her previous feat.

I would have to have a long discussion with my brother and the elders about her proposal to join our village with hers. Even if there was an initial resistance to joining Kashia, we needed something to stabilize the tribe. My prototype fishery was still too small to feed the village continuously, and it needed to be adopted by the village quickly if we wished to stop anymore of the tribe from dying of famine.

At the same time that we are suffering, so are the other tribes living on the lake. Who knows how long it might be before another war breaks out to destroy another tribe in order to free up resources? At this point of time, if one of the other tribes were to ally with another and attack us, we'd be destroyed since it was difficult to maintain fighters when everyone had to work on gathering food.

If the tribe were to stay at the lake that Kashia created for only a year, we'd be able to grow strong once again without a famine weakening us and fear of our tribe being attacked every day. Even allying ourselves with Kashia would ensure our protection from other threats.

Another reason for why I was curious about the tribe joining with Kashia's village was because I've never heard of any village nearby that accepted all races into their territory. The only place that I could think did something similar was the Argland Council State which was far up north.

The final reason that I didn't wish to brush off Kashia's offer so simply is due to her divinity. That level of magic used to alter the land so easily was of a tier that I'd never believed was possible for a simple mortal. Her unclear answer about her divinity didn't help to dissuade my beliefs, especially because of how I've heard of too many legends about gods that disguised themselves and walked among mortals.

This just seemed too similar for me to turn a blind eye to, and if she was a god, then insulting her in some form could have repercussions for not just me, but the rest of the tribe as well.

"Hey, Zaryusu, you've been very quiet for a while. I hope that you're not afraid that I'll bite you and you must be loaded with questions that you wish to ask me." Looking over at Kashia, I gave her a nod before speaking. To be fair, I am still nervous about anything that I may say which could upset her.

"Sorry, Kashia, I'm just deep in thought at the moment, I hope that doesn't bother you?"

The woman simply smiled and waved my apology off before replying, "It's fine. I've had moments where someone had to yell at me to pull my mind back to reality." I couldn't help but smile at the personal flaw that she admitted, and she quickly noticed my reaction, "Ah, so you do have a sense of humor. Still, what's on your mind that I could possibly answer?"

"For one thing, you stated earlier that you've only been in this country for a few days, and yet you've already gotten so much built in your village. How did you even get so many beings to live in your there? The amount of people there would make one assume that you at least brought a group of followers with you before you arrived in the country."

"While I had to show you my prowess in magic to you, most of the others in the village just saw how strong I was physically. The goblins and hobgoblins were a small group of bandits that were scraping out a living by robbing from weak travelers. When they tried to do the same to me, I handedly defeated all of them with just my tails. Afterwards, I talked with them and agreed to make them a self-sufficient group that didn't need to steal in order to survive." After saying this, I found it a little absurd that such a small woman, while strong magically, could also overpower a group of goblins so easily.

"And what about the ogres and trolls?"

"It just started with two ogres that were part of a group that tried to raid a farm. I and a group of adventurers defeated most of the group except for two that ran away. After chasing after them, I questioned them before offering them a place in my village. The rest joined when I defeated the massive troll in the Great Forest that was leading all of them. I didn't need anything but my tails to show my strength, and they joined quickly afterwards."

Did she mean to say that she defeated one of the Three Monsters of the Forest? Whenever I left the lake in order to traverse the world, I always had to be wary about encountering even one of the Three. Of the Three, the physically strongest one was a giant troll known as Guu. He had amassed a large following of trolls and ogres that obeyed his commands.

"The giant troll that you speak of, he wouldn't have happened to be named Guu by any chance, would he?" I asked, slightly in hope that Kashia had taken care of one of the dangers plaguing the Great Forest, and also in fear as it would mean that not a single one of my tribe could even hope to defeat her physically if it came to it.

"Yes, he was, how did you know?"

"Guu is one of the Three Monsters, a trio that carved out different sections of the forest as their territory. If it's true that you managed to beat him, then that information could help you in convincing the tribe to join you." I answered.

"Three Monsters? Do you have any other information on the remaining two monsters?" The way that Kashia asked me this made me wonder if she was actually going to search for them. This day just keeps getting stranger.

"Of the three known, the physically strongest was Guu, as well as the most known. The other being is a naga with an extremely long name. They generally stay hidden and attack trespassers when they least expect it. The last creature is unknown, as none have survived to give out a description. It is simply known as the Wise King of the Forest."

Kashia rested her chin in her hand in thought. "I'll have to see about dealing with these two other monsters. While I killed Guu due to him causing problems that were creating conflict outside of the forest, I feel that these other two need to be dealt with in order to prevent innocent travelers in the forest from getting killed."

"If it'll help you, while the Three Monsters are territorial in their own ways, they can at least be reasoned with. There are a few stories of travelers offering food to the Wise King for safe passage with most offerings being accepted." I could actually attest to that claim as I once had to travel through the Wise King's section of the forest. Offering them some fish had granted me travel, though I never saw what they looked like.

"I'll have to keep that in mind." Kashia muttered to herself, "Any other questions?"

This question had been filling my mind for a while with all the potential possibilities it brought, "You mentioned that your culture was advanced, what other technologies did they possess besides fisheries?"

"Ahh, now that question is a little hard to answer…"

"Why, did they have only a few advancements?"

"No, it's because we had so many advancements that it's hard to keep track of. We had the printing press, a device that could create hundreds of copies of a book in only a fraction of the time done by hand. There was also refrigeration, where we discovered how to keep foods chilled and preserved for longer in any environment. There were also the farming techniques that revolutionized food production, and those are only simple advancements." Of the three advancements that Kashia mentioned, the one that stuck with me was the printing press.

It could take days to years for a scribe to transcribe the entirety of a book's contents onto another. The idea that there was a device that could make a hundred copies of a book in only a fraction of the time it takes now would change learning forever. The knowledge within one book could be spread to a hundred with the onset of a printing press. It would also make the owner of such a device one of the richest beings in the world as people from all around would come to this person to have their books copied.

"How is it that knowledge of this printing press hasn't spread to other lands yet? Surely such a discovery would eventually be spread across the world by now."

"My people tend to keep to themselves. Our nation remains hidden from the outside world unless some of us travel beyond its borders. Since I'm one of the few that has, I have quite a bit of knowledge from home that could help people in their daily lives." Kashia finished.

"Right, you said your people tend to keep to themselves a bit earlier." The one thing that was a bit odd about her race's shyness was the way that Kashia had come out to civilization and even revealed her form to me. Guess she was one of the exceptions to her race. "Now, before we arrive at the village, you need to understand that my people are weary of strangers, so I hope you don't judge my people too harshly because of this."

"Don't worry, I'll try to rein in my eccentricities while in your village." The kitsune replied in amusement. "I do wonder how your people must treat you considering that you are one of the few to ever leave it. Do they have a stigma against you because of this?"

"Yes." I answered with a bit of shock at how she surmised my treatment by my tribe. It was something that I'd taken notice of after leaving the Great Lake for the first time and then coming back. The tribesmen who'd once been open with me had stopped talking to me and while being a traveler was supposed to be a great honor as it meant the retrieval of new information that would aid in survival, I'd found that the tribe elders didn't care to listen to my findings as much as they should.

I thank the gods that my brother wasn't like that and actually took my opinions into consideration.

"Your tribe should treat one that brings back new ideas and technologies with greater respect. Such a shame." She remarked with disappointment.

"It's not entirely bad, Kashia. My brother takes great interest in what I learn on my travels and has adopted a few of my ideas into the tribe without too much issue. The fishery was one of the ideas that he was very keen on expanding, if the test run that I've set up works." I just hope that Kashia doesn't become less inclined to aid my tribe due to learning of its darker nature.

"Hopefully that doesn't hinder our goal at hand." She paused for a moment until another thought popped into her head, "You've talked about your brother quite a bit. Would you care to tell me more about him?"

"He's considered the strongest of our tribe, proven by his combat trials to remain our chief. Every year, he must fight any who challenge him for the right to rule. So far, he hasn't lost against any challengers. Aside from his combat ability, he's also a wise leader that listens to all the advice given before making a decision." I smirked before adding, "Just between us, he can be such a mother hen around me. I figure it's because I'm the younger brother."

Kashia giggled at hearing this, "I think that treating you like a kid is the job of all older siblings. I'm sorry to say, but I doubt that there's a magic spell that could fix it."

"If even a deity admits to being unable to change the curse of all younger siblings, then I fear that I am doomed." I said in amusement. Looking ahead, I could see the outline of the village which told me that we'd soon arrive at our destination. "We're almost done with our journey. Ready to meet the rest of my tribe?"

"Really? And here I was enjoying our conversation about sibling torments."

"No worries, it'll still take us a few minutes at the rate of which we're walking. That reminds me, you mentioned that you had a few siblings earlier. Any stories?" I didn't know if I had said something wrong since Kashia stayed silent for a few moments until she decided to answer.

"I was the youngest of my siblings. The oldest, Ketsumakuen, was standoffish. She was more likely to stay off to the side than to join a group. It made it hard to connect to her, but that didn't mean she couldn't be a good friend when it mattered. The middle child, Fuwafuwa Shiri, did her best when in the middle of a crowd. She was both hyper and very lazy. An odd combination of personality traits to be certain."

"How long has it been since you last saw them? They must be missing you if you've been gone for all these years."

"They…aren't alive anymore. Fuwafuwa died during a massive war between two guilds. She and her guild were fighting against another, larger group that completely wiped the guild and all its members off the face of the world. I would've joined in to help, but I was off traveling while she was fighting." Kashia's voice trailed off as her eyes seemed to lose a bit of the shine that once filled them.

"I'm sorry for bringing up such a dark memory. Will you still be fine with coming to the tribe or should we wait a few minutes?" Even after apologizing, I couldn't help but wonder about Kashia's sister. What type of power would be needed to kill the sister of a deity if said sister wasn't a deity herself? How much strength would be required to kill a god?

"No need to apologize, Zaryusu. You didn't know and I have gotten over it. But, to add onto my other sister, Ketsu, she disappeared a few months after Fuwa died. She hasn't been seen since, and at this point I just assume that she died." After she finished telling me about her sisters, Kashia looked at me with a smile, "No matter. It's unhealthy to keep your mind in the past when you have a future to look forwards to and a present that's given to you."

A nice saying, but it was obvious to tell that Kashia was hiding how she felt for my sake. Even if I wished to know more about what possibly could've killed her sister, it would be impolite and highly inappropriate to ask such personal questions when we only just met. Not that we'd have much of a chance to talk privately when we'd reach the tribe in less than a minute.

Up ahead, I could spot one of the guards patrolling the area for predators or invaders. I even knew him, Farquech, a large lizardman that even towered over my brother. His mud-brown scales made him perfect when he wished to blend in with the environment while his large size gave him the advantage when catching enemies unaware.

While a few of the tribe believed that he could take my brother on for the title of chief, I knew that Farquech lacked any sense of ambition to try and take Shasuryu's title. He was perfectly content with the simple responsibilities of a guard. Besides a lack of ambition, Farquesch was also one of few of the tribe that didn't care about tribal hierarchy which meant that he didn't care that I was a traveler.

"I'll do the talking for now; Farquesch doesn't know you so he'll be on edge." I told Kashia while waving to the guard.

"Your village, your rules. Anything that I should expect?"

"Water. We live in a swamp, so there are some sections of the village which are flooded." There wasn't much that I could really prepare Kashia for. Well…except for the children. They might try to get close and investigate her since none of the children had ever seen one without scales before.

"Will you next be telling me that water is wet or that the sky is blue?"

Looking up at the sky, I looked back down to Kashia, "Actually, I see a few clouds in the sky that are white. Does that help?" We were both silent until we started laughing at our jests. "I'll keep your preferences for hearing me state the obvious in mind for the future."

"Good luck, Zary." I couldn't help but raise my brow at the new nickname of mine.

"Zary?"

"Your name's a bit of a mouthful and I'm not the most formal of people. Does that bother you?"

"Not really. It just threw me off is all. Just try and not call me that when we meet the elders and especially my brother. He will never let that one go." I sincerely hope that Kashia didn't end up embarrassing me while she was here.

Looking away from Kashia, I spotted Farquesch walking towards us with his steel spear slung across his shoulders with a calm expression on his face. Periodically, his eyes would look in Kashia's direction as he studied her. "Greetings, Farquesch! We have a visitor."

"Ho! Zaryusu, it's been a while. Who's this stranger accompanying you?" Farquesch asked as he planted the butt of his spear into the ground and leaned forwards on it in a relaxed position.

"This is a sorceress that I met named Kashia Blanc. She had a unique proposal for the tribe, and I wanted to bring her to my brother and the elders so that they could hear her out." I answered while leaving out some of the larger details. Depending upon how discussions went, I wanted to avoid putting the tribe into a panic over a deity visiting the village.

Farquesch hummed in thought, "Must be something important if you brought an outsider here. This even brought you away from that big project I hear you've been working on. Ever plan on telling me what it is that you've got hidden at that shack of yours?" It's true that I've been secretive about the prototype fishery of mine, but I had good reasons for it.

If the tribe learned that there were a bunch of fish ripe and for the picking, then it was a certain possibility that some of the tribe would be tempted to sneak to my shack and steal the fish before my project was even finished. Only my brother knew exactly what I was making since I could trust him to not eat the fish before they were ready.

At least I hoped so. I've seen him come by my shack a few times with a hungry look on his face just to watch the fish swim around the fishery. I swear, the minute that he learns when the fish are ready he'd be at my home with a plate in hand.

"Just wait. When my project is done, you'll be the second person after my brother to see it." I promised Farquesch. At least he'd be more patient than my brother.

"I'll hold you to that promise." Giving Kashia another glance, Farquesch added, "I don't see anything wrong with letting this woman into the village, at least as long as she's with you. What is she? Never heard anything about a human with tails and ears like that before."

"Kitsune. My race is called the kitsune." Kashia interjected, "I hope that helps, Farquesch." The large guardian smirked and nodded at Kashia's answer.

"At least you can speak. Never heard of your kind before. Reckon that you must be from far off." Farquesch turned to me and asked, "She is from far off, right? My knowledge of others outside of the lake isn't as good as yours."

"Indeed." I nodded, much to the guard's relief.

"At least I didn't embarrass myself in front of the newcomer. Good luck with whatever business you have here. Don't cause a ruckus, else I'll have to get involved which I really don't want right now." After saying this, Farquesch stepped aside to allow us through.

Even if the big lizardman acted lazy, he is still a good guardian of the tribe. An advantage he had in his duties was his talent to discern friend from foe. It made him perfect at assessing visitors who entered the village. Him allowing Kashia through without issue swayed some of his doubts of bringing Kashia here.

Upon entering the threshold of the village, I noticed Kashia looking around in curiosity at the buildings and inhabitants. As we continued walking, I was able to pick out a few of the children who were previously running around were now watching Kashia with mixed emotions. "The chief's longhouse is up ahead. Before we arrive there, have you thought about what you're going to say to my brothers and the elders?"

"Possibly. I have a question; do any of your elders have weak hearts which would be unable to stand any form of shock?" That is very disturbing to ask. What could she be possibly planning that could result in any of the elders dying of a heart attack?

"Please avoid anything that could potentially kill the elders. That could destroy any possible relations between the tribe and you." I couldn't help but sigh at the havoc Kashia could cause. She waved my pleas off before adding something that worried me further.

"You won't have to worry about your elders dying. I'll just resurrect them if the worst comes to pass."

Why did I even bother? Commanding a deity to reign themselves in was a futile attempt from the very beginning. Commanding a deity like Kashia is like reigning in a rampaging storm. The best one could hope for is that the storm would pass over and not cause too much destruction.

Yet, even with the chaotic personality of hers, she did show an intellectual side in our conversations. Even now, I noticed how her ears twitched at the slightest sound while her feline eyes studied all the activity around her. It made it hard to truly read her at times.

"You don't have to sneak about." Kashia suddenly announced while turning around, "I won't bite." After saying this, three children nervously stepped out into full view from behind a hut that they'd been hiding. It was easy to recognize these three since they'd run about the tribe everyday playing games.

Two of them were siblings with matching coloring similar to bricks that made up human settlements. One, a boy named Xerulu who stood the tallest of the trio was the troublemaker of the group. The other, a girl named Shashana was the shortest of the group, yet she made up for it with her tenacity and the muscles that were already developing on her body. The last of the group was a boy named Zerusch.

The boy took after his father, Farquesch, in appearance though his size did leave much to be desired as he was nowhere near the stature of his father. He had time to grow at least, but his size was a sore spot for the time being. Zerusch was usually dragged along into the siblings' misadventures that spanned all across the village.

My only solace of living away from the rest of the tribe was that I hadn't been terrorized by the trio just yet. That may yet change as they get older since that usually made children bolder in their actions. I've heard so many complaints from my brother about all the messes that he's had to clean up after the pulled one of their 'practical jokes'.

"C'mon Zeru, she doesn't look that scary." Shashana confidently stated as she marched forwards.

"I don't know, Shash. I've heard all kinds of stories about no-scales being violent and warlike." Zerusch replied as he eyed Kashia with suspicion.

"You're just talking about humans, Zeru. Can't ya' see that the outsider ain't human? She's got those tails and ears. Ever heard of a human having tails and ears?" Xerulu interjected as he began pulling Zerusch forwards towards Kashia.

"Doesn't mean that the outsider isn't an enemy. Could be a spy for one of the other tribes." Zerusch acted paranoid about potential threats due to his goal of eventually joining his father in guarding the village. This meant that he could be quite…overzealous in defending the village. Regardless of his opinion on our visitor, his traitorous companions dragged him with them to Kashia.

"How do you use that many tails? Doesn't it get confusing to keep track of?" Xerulu asked in interest. Kashia seemed slightly surprised at being asked the question. Yet, the surprise fell away to amusement as a smirk grew on her face.

"A human might ask the same of you if you met one." Kashia replied.

"But humans are strange. Not having tails must make them really unbalanced. One elder, Korkoryus, lost her tail and needs a cane now to walk." Shashana added in.

"It may seem strange that they lack tails but not every race in the world can grow a tail. While a human grows up without at tail, they are very capable of great dexterous feats. We just have an advantage on races without tails since we have another limb to utilize." Kashia then giggled and added, "In my case, I have quite a few more limbs than most others."

"Wouldn't that give enemies more spots to target on your body? Seems a hindrance to have all that extra weight." Zerusch remarked with that combat-inspired curiosity. His question did have merit if he didn't know what I did. The weight that came from the fur, muscles, and bones in Kashia's tails would likely add up to the weight of another human, yet her immense strength countered this so-called hindrance.

"Of all the limbs on my body, my tails are both the strongest and toughest ones. Their adamantine durability can even allow me to use them as a shield to block attacks." Another new trait that I learn about the kitsune. At this point, I feel like I'll need to get a journal to write down all of this information about the kitsune that I've been learning. Another one would probably be needed just for Kashia herself.

"They don't seem that tough." Shashana muttered.

"Appearances can be deceiving. Isn't that right, Zaryusu?" I nodded at the question and remained silent. "Just because I don't look that intimidating with my fluffy tails and ears doesn't mean that I couldn't beat someone to a pulp with them." While saying this, I noticed how three of Kashia's tails had begun snaking into position above the trio while her other tails worked on keeping the attention of the children occupied. I kept quiet about what I thought Kashia was about to do, namely because this would probably be amusing.

"Keep that in mind when you encounter opponents since the best defense one could ever have is to be underestimated." She took this moment to strike as her three tails whipped downwards until they wrapped themselves around the waists of each child. Effortlessly, Kashia's tails lifted all three squirming children into the air. "Second lesson of combat, avoid focusing on one area of your opponent for too long since they might just be trying to distract you from their true intentions."

"No fair! We weren't even ready!" Xerulu exclaimed as he tried to pry himself out of serpentine grip of Kashia's tail. The kitsune laughed at the complaint before turning her attention to me.

"Hey, Zaryusu, think these kids would make nice decorations to hang above me while I'm in this village?" Hearing the potential humiliation, all three children struggled to escape Kashia's grip with a new intensity.

"While it would be hilarious, I doubt that their parents would be too thrilled to hear that their children were being used as decorations by an outsider." I answered with a grin. Kashia playfully sighed in disappointment as she lowered the trio back on the ground before releasing them from her tails.

"Guess I have to play nice. I'm a guest here after all." Turning back to the children, "I hope that you've learned to not judge a being based on their appearance since they could make a fool of you." She consoled as she crossed her arms under her abnormally large chest. Why did humanoid mammals require such large milk storage areas in such an inconvenient area that could interfere with movement? I still didn't understand why human males had such an obsession with that anatomy.

"We understand." The trio answered with a more respectful tone to the kitsune.

"Could you teach me how to do that?" Shashana asked with interest. Kashia seemed to ponder this before she replied.

"Maybe another time. Unfortunately, I've got some important business that needs to be taken care of. Really boring adult stuff, y'know what I mean?"

"What business do you have here that's so important?" Zerusch's question made me nervous that Kashia might say something that I'd rather have kept quiet. If these three learned the reason for our arrival, they'd no doubt spread that gossip fast enough that the entire tribe would know by nightfall.

"Just a few things that I need to talk to your chief about." She then leaned closer to the children and freed one of her hands to snap her fingers. A myriad of sparks burst from her fingers and started dancing around the trio before fizzling out. "Magical stuff." She patted the trio on their heads before turning back to me and signaling me to move. "See you kids later."

"Later, tail-lady!" The trio replied back before bursting into excited whispering as we walked away. From the way that Kashia's ears were twitching, I assumed that she could hear what they were discussing since the amusement coming from her was palpable.

"You're pretty good with children. Especially those three troublemakers."

She shrugged, "Not that difficult. You just need to show them who's boss while also being personable. Those kids seemed like they wanted to see something interesting, so I gave them a show of it."

"Right. You're certain that it wasn't because you had the chance to terrorize some children?"

"Strange how you immediately think about terrorizing children. Is that one of your fantasies?" The kitsune rebutted. I could only roll my eyes at her taunt before refocusing my mind on the task at hand. Even now, her little display had attracted the attention of the villagers in the area who would likely go on to tell their neighbors.

"The longhouse is right ahead. It'll be unlikely for all the elders to be assembled together inside, but my brother usually is there around this time of day to listen to the tribe." Up ahead, the longhouse was held aloft by stilts over the wet mud of the swamp. The longhouse didn't have much to differentiate it from the other huts of the tribe.

It was circular is design and constructed of wood unlike the roof which consisted of a mix of mud and thatch. In the doorway like all the other huts, a cloth blocked the view of the inside. The difference with the longhouse was that the symbol of the tribe was painted on it. Another difference with this building was its size. It was created to hold a greater amount of people at one time.

"Have you ever considered making doors for your buildings? It would be more durable in the long run than to use cloth."

"True that may be, yet creating doors takes greater work and tools that we lack." I answered.

"Ever considered becoming more industrious? Chopping down trees in less waterlogged environments to make more stable foundations, attempting to create mines for metals, expand into agriculture."

I shook my head, "Cutting down trees takes time which is something the tribe lacks due to our consistent food shortages. Mining requires the knowledge of where to dig along with the ability to smith tools. Adding how hostile other beings of the lake and forest can be about their territory being encroached and we are given few options."

"Ever considered finding a magic user that could **[Enlarge]** your food so that you wouldn't have to worry about a lack of fish?"

"That would be nice if not for a few problems. Casting **[Enlarge]** would require a mage that can cast 2nd Tier magic and knows that spell. Hard enough to find in any group, and harder still to get the mage to deign themselves to such menial work in the middle of a monster hotspot. Add into that problem is that the spell has a limit so all that enlarged food would shrink after a few minutes." Even as I told her this, I couldn't help but predict that Kashia had something up her sleeve for this.

"Ah, so it seems that metamagic abilities are slightly harder to come by in this part of the world." The kitsune mused to herself.

"Metamagic is possible, it's just that I've never heard of any type of metamagic that could greatly extend the length of the spell you're proposing to create a viable food source."

"That's just because you haven't seen all of my fun tricks, yet. I've already given myself an idea that may assist in convincing your tribe, so thanks for being my sounding board." What in the world is a sounding board? I had to ask this to get more clarification, "It's a figure of speech meant for when someone assists in testing the validity of an idea."

"Something learned, something gained. I'll keep that saying in mind for the future. Aside from word choices, I seriously hope that whatever idea you just came up with wasn't your only idea." As I said this, we had already reached the steps of the longhouse which we started ascending.

"Have a bit more faith in me." As she said this, I pulled the cloth of the doorway aside and entered first while Kashia followed closely after me. Inside the longhouse, a carpet made up of dried reeds and leaves woven together, covered the ground. Ahead, sitting on a small bench was my brother, Shasuryu, conversing with two elders.

My brother and I shared similar coloring, yet that was where the similarities of our appearances stopped. Shasuryu was covered in scars from fights before his chiefdom, and many more received afterwards from challengers for his title. This continuous combat throughout his life had given him great strength that showed when comparing his size to mine.

While our arrival wasn't noticed by the elders due to their backs to us, Shasuryu quickly noticed Kashia and I as we walked towards them.

"Brother! It's a rare sight to see you in the village, rarer still to see one that isn't a lizardman. What's the occasion?" Shasuryu enthusiastically asked. Kashia and I sat down and joined the group before answering. Even now, I noticed the looks of disapproval that the elders gave me. They disliked how even with my status as a traveler, I held great sway over my brother. Add to that their preference for isolationism, and they must be seething at what they perceived to be me flaunting my political power.

"My friend here is actually the reason, Shasuryu. This is Kashia Blanc, a sorceress who had an interesting proposal that needed to be brought to your attention. Trust me when I say that you shouldn't treat this offer lightly." I explained as respectfully as I could.

Shasuryu and the elders turned their attention to Kashia with curiosity. "It's rare for one to garner my brother's attention so easily. And, while you look human, your tails and ears say otherwise."

"You're right, I'm not human. I am a kitsune from a far-off land, and from what your brother has told me, my kind are completely unknown here." Kashia answered with an inviting smile.

"Or she could be a human disguising herself with illusionary magic to allay our suspicions. For all we know, she could be a spy from the Dragon Claw or the Red Eye who'll inform them about our strengths and weaknesses." The elder, Korkoryus, stated with paranoia.

I didn't feel comfortable with the unchanging smile on Kashia's face or the way that her eyes lacked the amusement they usually contained. What really confirmed her mood was her tails. The fur on them, normally smooth like silk, was beginning to bristle.

"I'll assure you; this body is very much real. I hope that you'll refrain from insulting me when I'm being quite civil." To make a point, one of her tails snaked forwards until it rested on Korkoryus' lap.

"Don't attempt to frighten me, girl. You stand in the center of our tribe and any hostile action you attempt will be answered with your swift end." Korkoryus was always more conflict-prone than the other elders or my brother. She'd been a fighter his entire life, and that translated to most of her advice being filled with paranoia and warmongering. I couldn't stand the elder lizardman, but she did have moments where her wisdom was the most appropriate.

"If you must refer to me by anything other than my name, then call me lady. I'm no girl. And secondly; if I wanted you dead, your village would be a crater in the ground, and that is by far the most boring method that I could perform to kill everyone here." Kashia stated proudly as her tail slid off Korkoryus' lap.

"Trust what she says. I've seen what she can do firsthand, and if she wanted us dead, it wouldn't be an issue for her to end us like she says, not a single issue for a goddess like her to do so." I decided to reveal her divinity to them immediately, and hopefully Kashia would confirm my statement.

The elders were wide-eyed as I said this, while my brother kept an unemotional expression, yet his eyes couldn't hide the incredulity that they contained.

"You must be joking. Shasuryu, are you really going to listen to your brother blather on about this stranger that he proclaims a goddess? It's absolute lunacy!" Korkoryus barked out with a scowl made worse by the numerous scars across her face.

"Even I would be hard-pressed to believe such claims. While I might be open to the idea, there isn't any proof of your claims, traveler Zaryusu. Even then, why would a goddess even decide to aid us?" The other elder, Caleo, said with a calm tone. He was one of the calmer of the elders, though anyone might seem calm when compared to Korkoryus. The issue I had with him was how much of a stickler he was with tradition and preferred stagnancy to change.

My brother remained silent as the elders voiced their opinions. Likely because he wished to remain neutral in the discussion and avoid showing me favoritism.

"You're right, elder. Why would any of you believe that I have any form of divinity when you've only just met me, an outsider to your ways and customs? If I was a fraud, I'd attempt to convince you with words and tricks about my truthfulness. Luckily for you, I'm not a fraud, and I plan to give you proof." She stood back onto her feet which made an audible and ominous clack on the floor due to her strangely designed footwear.

"If you'd like to stand, I will be teleporting us outside the village to avoid collateral damage." As she said this, I was the first to stand while the others continued to remain seated. After a few tense moments when I thought that Kashia might unwillingly teleport the elders and Shasuryu, it was said brother who broke his neutrality and stood.

To Korkoryus' chagrin, Caleo stood with his chief, leaving the cantankerous elder being the only one remaining seated. "You would put your trust in a stranger and a traveler to not teleport us into a hostile environment?! How can you be so foolish?"

"If it's your will to not teleport, then I won't force you. But, if you wish to still see my display, you can walk outside the village gate that is guarded by Farquech. **[Greater Teleportation]**!" Kashia announced as that familiar stretching feeling washed over my body and the world blurred until all of us, besides Korkoryus arrived atop flooded ground that allowed us all to overlook the lake.

"That gave me such a headache," Shasuryu muttered as he began to look around at our surroundings. Behind us, the village was a few hundred meters away. Easily in walking distance, and close enough that any tribe member near the gate could see whatever miracle that Kashia planned to perform.

"Hope that your headache doesn't impair your eyesight because you're about to witness my first trick! **[Creation]**!" Kashia clapped her hands together before extending them out before her as mystical circles formed of pure mana grew around her. For a few moments, nothing seemed to happen. Then, in the deeper waters of the lake about a hundred meters away, the waters began bubbling and churning like a maelstrom.

"What is she doing?" Caleo asked while his focus stayed on the churning water ahead.

"She is changing the very landscape itself." I answered while continuing to watch. If it was anything like the lake she'd created earlier, then it would be something of a grand scale.

"Changing the very land?" Shasuryu said in disbelief. The churning finally stopped and left the waters of the lake abnormally calm. Then, the true display of her spell began.

The calm of the water broke as a structure of granite broke through it and created large waves which rippled across the lake. This didn't stop as the structure continued rising like a twisting tree of stone being pulled up by a massive invisible hand.

"This…this is incredible…" Shasuryu remarked in awe as the stone tree continued growing. Sections of the tree grew off from the main pillar to form branches, and on these branches grew plants and trees. Yet, it wasn't just the branches of this stone tree that became covered in life as vines and such began spreading along the main pillar.

Strangest of all was the waterfalls that spewed forth from the tips of each of these branches and drained back into the lake below. When she had finished with growing the tree, it stood like a mountain above the trees of the forest. Yet, this wasn't all as the base of the tree began expanding until the base was double the width of the rest of the tree's pillar.

Finally, a bridge of granite grew across the water until it reached our location. Pillars expanded beneath the bridge and into the water to provide support while plant-life grew upon it in the form of vines and grass.

When Kashia concluded her display, she turned towards us once more with a cocky grin upon her face. "I hope you all like my newest art piece. I call it the Tree of Gods." She stated with a bow, though I highly doubted that Shasuryu or Caleo noticed as their focus was on the massive structure that had just been spawned in the middle of the lake.

"Would you like a tour of the Tree, I made certain to create pathways within it so that you could traverse it if need be." The second time that Kashia spoke, the shocked pair finally took notice of her speaking and paid attention.

"What power! I've lived to see much displays of magic throughout my time, but I never could have imagined creating a structure of this size alone would be in the realm of the Thirteen Heroes. Yet, to do both that and create life along with it…What are you?" Caleo asked with a hint of fear in his voice.

"I have been completely truthful since I first arrived. I have come to offer you and your tribe a deal that would benefit you and all future generations of your tribe if you were to accept. My name is Kashia Blanc, one of only 21 kitsune who gained their ninth tail, a traveler of distant realms, the last walking incarnation of disaster, chosen disciple of two deities, leader of a village of all races, and mistress of the mystic arts! My name is _**Kashia Blanc**_ _**and I am the daughter of the goddess Inari!"**_

While announcing her identity, her voice started to echo while other voices overlapped it. Some men, some women, yet Kashia's voice remained dominant above them. The orange of her eyes glowed like an inferno while her slitted pupils seemed to stare into not just my soul, but the souls of my brother and Caleo.

Her presence had also changed. Whereas before she felt sociable and reachable, now she radiated pure power which I never could believe myself to attain even in my furthest dreams. It was commanding enough that I almost fell to my knees to bow before her.

My brother was probably feeling Kashia's presence even worse due to being unprepared, yet he showed his willpower by still standing even with this pervading aura of Kashia's filling the area. The same couldn't be said for the elder, Caleo, as he fell to his knees with his head bowed down and eye avoiding contact with Kashia's form.

"Lady Kashia, we don't need any further proof of your divinity. The elders will be gathered immediately to listen to your offer if you're still willing to speak to us." Shasuryu said in a tense and respectful tone. I couldn't imagine the effort Shasuryu had to exert to remain standing while also holding a calm conversation with the goddess.

Upon hearing my brother say this, the overwhelming presence of Kashia's finally died down and the glow in her eyes faded back to their normal orange. She smiled as she said, "I'm glad that we could finally reach an understanding, Shasuryu. Shall I teleport us back or would you like to walk?"

"Walking would be fine. I'm still feeling a headache from you teleporting us earlier." Shasuryu calmly answered. It was clear to see that he was nervous around Kashia, which would mean that he'd be more cautious around the kitsune.

I didn't blame him for his fear. Even though I knew that she is here with benevolent intentions in mind, her ridiculous power still terrified me. My solace was that she was at least the tribe's ally rather than its enemy.

* * *

Time seemed to move at a snail's pace as I sat with Kashia in the longhouse. After the display of her power, we rushed back to the village to gather the other elders. Currently, besides us, Korkoryus and Caleo sat with us in the longhouse waiting while my brother ran off to gather the remaining four elders.

Even though our meeting's content was meant to be hidden from the village, it was hard to hide the massive stone construct that Kashia had raised from the depths of the lake. Periodically checking outside the longhouse, I had spotted members of the tribe gathering near the front gate to investigate the Tree of Gods. Some braver tribesmen were even moving closer to it.

Speaking of strange behavior, Caleo hadn't been the same since he got back. When we walked back to the village, Caleo had been looking at Kashia with the reverence of a fanatic that was concerning. Korkoryus on the other hand had been in an even fouler mood since she decided to look at Kashia's creation.

I didn't know what thoughts might be passing through Korkoryus' head, but I doubted that any of them were friendly. It'd be more than likely that the old warhawk was thinking up methods on how to possibly kill Kashia.

None of these concerns were voiced to Kashia as I feared what she may do, especially I didn't want our discussions to be soured by paranoia. There was already enough of that going around to last a lifetime.

Just when I thought this growing tension would reach a head, my brother finally arrived with the other elders. Each of them took a seat in front of Kashia, with Shasuryu being the last to sit. "Lady Kashia, I've brought all the remaining elders to listen to your offer. We are ready to hear you."

"Thanks for being so open to hear me. For those of you who have just arrived, my name is Kashia Blanc; daughter of the goddess Inari. I have come to your tribe today to offer you a place in the town that I've been creating. From what I've been told, the location of your tribe has not aided in sustaining your people or allowing you to prosper. In fact, I know that all of you have been suffering constant famines that have impacted not just your tribe but all others inhabiting the lake."

"How do you possibly have enough space to house and sustain our tribe of 343 members? Even beyond available space, how do you expect to transport all of us safely through the Great Forest without any accidents or hardships?" The elder, Dranuse interrogated.

"I have a spell that could transport all of your people instantly to my village which mitigates the hazards of traveling. And, no doubt you've already seen the massive stone construct I made outside your village. Using the same spell that I used to create that construct, I also created a massive lake which Zaryusu personally saw. It has more than enough space to fit your entire tribe without any of you needing to worry about resources. I can even demonstrate why that is if one of you were to give me a fish as an example."

A few of the elders began muttering amongst themselves while Shasuryu walked to a basket in the corner of the room that contained some salted fish. While the salt helped preserve the fish, it was a limited commodity that was difficult to come by. After collecting a single fish, my brother walked over to Kashia and handed her test example.

"Thank you." She said as she took the fish. "**[Permanize Magic: Enlarge]**!" All of us witnessed as the fish, a measly six inches in length that would be barely enough to feed an adult let alone a child, suddenly grew until it was four feet long. When she was done, she set the fish down in front of herself and the group of confused elders, "Under normal circumstances, a being or object hit with the **[Enlarge]** spell would only last a few minutes at best. Due to my metamagic, this spell will never end unless I wish it to. Worrying about famine in a short timeframe will no longer be an issue for your tribe. And, due to Zaryusu's fishery idea, making a sustainable fish population to feed your tribe in the long run is completely possible."

The moment Kashia mentioned my name, I felt all the eyes of the elders on me. I didn't exactly like the attention, especially since I knew that Kashia was already aware of fisheries, and yet she was trying to pass it all off as my idea. What could she be playing at?

Aside from Kashia bringing attention to me, I couldn't help but be amazed at this feat of metamagic that I'd never seen before. To permanently enchant an object with a spell seemed absolutely incredible and useful. No doubt, the elders and Shasuryu felt the same way watching the goddess perform miracle after miracle.

"By all accounts, everything you are promising us seems too good to be true…" Elder Zearus spoke up, "Why is it that you come to our simple tribe with offers and displays that seem to benefit us more than it does you?"

"When I came to the Great Forest of Tob earlier today, I wished to only end the threat that the troll known as Guu was bringing to the south. Afterwards, I came to the lake to simply enjoy the waters until I encountered Zaryusu."

The oldest of the elders, Aileus, took this moment to interrupt Kashia when he asked, "Are you saying that you killed one of the three great monsters that ruled a section of Tob? I heard that the three were unbeatable!"

"I did indeed kill Guu. Though I offered him the chance to cease his activities that were bringing conflict to the south. He rudely declined with his club which is when I killed him. Afterwards, I offered all of those that followed him the opportunity to leave the area or to join my village." Kashia answered, impressing both Aileus and a few of the other elders who muttered among themselves.

"Regardless of my prior feats, Zaryusu and I conversed for some time and I learned of all the troubles that not just your tribe, but all lizardmen tribes inhabiting this lake faced. I've been to places suffering similar troubles to yours when I lacked the power to do something. Now that I have the power to help you over the same problems I see here, I see it as my duty to do so." Kashia replied in a respectful tone.

"In the village that I've been developing, I've recently created an entire lake which I populated with fish, along with space around this lake to settle and make as a home. In my village, you'd be apart of a greater collective that accepts all races into its folds, and no longer would your tribe need to worry about competing for resources. If you wished it, I could even transport us to the village so that you may see my claims with your own eyes."

Elder Zearus was the first to ask, "Lady Kashia, if the Green Claw tribe were to join this village of yours, what rights would we have? Would we even have autonomy, or would we have to follow your every order?" Based on the answer that Kashia gave, this could be a deal breaker to a few of the elders. Especially ones like Korkoryus.

"That is a fair question. Within my village, you'd have autonomy to live where you wish and a chief to continue leading you. This chief would answer to me when called, but besides the few things that I may ask of your tribe, you'd be free to govern yourselves however you wished. The only things that I would ask is that you would not kill, steal, or harm the other citizens of the village. If any of you would like to leave the village, you would be free to do so at any time. I'd even help relocate anyone if they wished it."

"These terms of yours sound fair to be sure," Shasuryu announced, ceasing all the hushed conversations between the elders, "yet it would be unwise to make this decision hastily, especially when something of this importance will affect not just us, but all members of the tribe. I ask that you allow the Green Claw at least a week to discuss your offer amongst ourselves before we give you our answer. Would you be willing to accept this?"

A tension filled the room as we all waited for Kashia's answer. Even though I doubted that Kashia would perform any malicious actions against us for asking this small boon, the rest of the elders and possibly my brother didn't know this.

The instant that Kashia nodded in agreement, I heard sighs of relief escape from a few of the elders as that seemed to have been holding their breaths in wait. "If a week to deliberate is what you want, then I will honor your wishes. Answering an offer of this importance shouldn't be decided lightly." The goddess then started reaching to open space, at least until a black void swallowed her hand.

Upon finally pulling her hand out of the void, she brought from it a scroll which I had no doubt was magical in nature. One of her tails then removed the scroll from her hand and stretched forwards to Shasuryu until the object was deposited in my brother's lap.

Gingerly picking up the scroll, my brother was about to roll it open when Kashia's tail stopped him. "That is a **[Message]** scroll with a one-time use. If you wish to contact me anytime earlier within the week, then open the scroll and speak your message. I will arrive shortly after to meet you in this very building and we can talk. Additionally, in seven days I'll arrive in this building at noon in case we haven't come to an agreement earlier in the week."

The eyes of the elders all focused on the small object that could, in essence, summon a goddess to speak to us. It was a bit amusing to consider that a relatively simple magical object powered by one of the simpler 2nd tier spells could make an effect that trumped the spell. Yet, even with all this proof, some of the elders were still in doubt.

But there was one possibility that could help sway their opinions and allow me to fulfil my duty as a traveler of the Green Claw. "Lady Kashia, if you would allow me, I'd like to accompany you to your village as a temporary ambassador to gather information and aid in the cultural relations of the inhabitants of your village and the Green Claw."

"Zaryusu, are you certain that this is what you wish?" Shasuryu asked with concern. I couldn't help but smile at the way my brother was attempting to protect me from the potential threat of a goddess.

"Brother, I'm a traveler of the Green Claw. My duty is to travel beyond the tribe in the pursuit of knowledge to strengthen us. Learning about Kashia's village is one of the reasons for why I'm a traveler." I stated proudly. Even with the scorn and disdain that the tribe gave me at times, I couldn't simply ignore my duty. "Would you allow this, Lady Kashia?"

"Of course, Zaryusu. If you were to wish it, I could even give you **[Message]** scrolls to report back to the Green Claw each day and I'll return you back home at the end of the week safe and sound." I couldn't help but feel elated at Kashia's enthusiastic reply. Our tribe needed all the assistance that it could receive, and should all turn out well, it could be possible to get the other tribes of lizardmen to join Kashia's village.

While there were members of the Green Claw that preferred staying isolated from the rest of the tribes, I believed that joining together would make us stronger than staying separate. It's just that the idea had been a far-off dream due to the shortages of food. Now, uniting the tribes was in the realm of possibility.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." The goddess answered warmly. "Aside from my offer to the Green Claw, I'm also gifting you the Tree of Gods that I created for taking the time to hear me. Make of it what you will."

"We're honored to be given such a gift, Lady Kashia. If this is all, then I believe that this meeting is concluded." Shasuryu finished. With the meeting concluded, the elders quickly started to stream out of the hut until only Kashia, Shasuryu, and I remained. "If you wish, I'd be honored to host a dinner for you and Shasuryu in my home."

"And I feel honored to receive such a prestigious invitation. Unfortunately, there are matters that I must take care of today that can't be ignored. Perhaps another night when all of us are less burdened by our duties." That silver tongue hers dodged the invitation gracefully, completely opposite of how I've seen her acting before. And, these duties that Kashia spoke of made me wonder tasks required the might of a goddess? Perhaps I might find out later when we arrived at her village.

"I'll hold you to that promise in the future." Shasuryu said with a laugh, "Before you leave with my brother, could I speak to him privately for a moment?" Kashia agreed and swiftly exited the longhouse, leaving just my brother and I remaining.

"Little brother, I have no idea where you found that woman, but you certainly broke the horse's back with the friend that you've made."

"I couldn't exactly say that we are friends right now. We've only just met one another, yet she's shown more sympathy to our plight than any other that I've encountered in my travels. I believe that it's possible for me to befriend her considering how accepting she is." I answered truthfully. Not even the possibility that the kitsune could hear our conversation with those ears of hers made me waver in my belief.

"Hopefully your relationship can continue positively growing. Even if we could only get her as an ally if we decline her proposal, it would still give us a massive defense if outsiders or the other tribes were to attack us." Shasuryu placed his hand on my shoulder while his face became grim and serious, "But I'm disappointed in you for one reason…" This made me worried. How could I give my brother any cause for concern?

"I'm disappointed that while you manage to gain the attention of a living goddess, you still are unable to find a mate!" He then broke out into boisterous laughter while my heart stopped pumping as fast as before.

"Really? You're still bothering me about my love life? You're supposed to be the more mature older brother." He quickly pulled me into a hug and patted me on the back before separating.

"You're my little brother. It's my job to look out for you, and if necessary, tease you about anything and everything. Besides, it can be painful to be married at times. It's unfair that you aren't suffering like I am." Ever since Shasuryu had mated with his wife, he'd been constantly trying to get me to pair off with someone. It would no doubt get worse whenever his wife became pregnant.

"Whatever." I answered while rolling my eyes, "While I'm gone, could you take care of the fishery and avoid eating any of the fish before I get back?"

"I'll try my best, Zaryusu, but I don't know how much longer my will can hold out. They just look so plump and delicious." Even now, he was salivating at the thought of eating them while his tail was wagging in excitement.

"You managed to hold your will against that of a goddess earlier today. How could a couple of fish break what I goddess couldn't?"

"You made them look too delicious, little brother. Fish aside, I want you to be careful and stay safe while at Kashia's village. If something were to happen to you, I doubt that I'd be able to function without a little brother to dote over and tease."

"Don't worry, I'll send you a report every night while I'm gone to let you know I'm safe, and each message will have the word for this symbol at the start or end." I used my claw to scratch a crude symbol of a fish into the uncarpeted wooden floor. "If Kashia swore upon my safety, then nothing will happen to me while I'm in her village. She doesn't seem like the kind of person that would break a promise." What I didn't say aloud was belief that she did seem the type to twist her promises if she wanted to.

"I pray that you're correct. Will you be taking Rororo with you or shall I look after him?" I didn't even consider leaving Rororo behind as it would be wise to have a known ally in unfamiliar territory. That, and he could become very depressed if separated from me for long. Hopefully the food that I'd left for him in the shack would occupy him until I got back.

"He'll keep me company at Kashia's village. I think that you'll have more than enough responsibilities of caring for my fish without eating them without a hydra to add to it."

He nodded with a smirk, "Good luck, little brother. I'll see you in a week's time." Each of us stood up as our conversation concluded and exited the longhouse where Kashia was waiting at the bottom of the steps for us.

"Conversation go well?" She asked.

"Certainly did. Just had to tease my brother before I let him go traveling again." As we met Kashia at the bottom of the steps, Shasuryu took on the chief persona once more and said, "I hope that regardless of what we decide, our peoples can build a strong relationship with one another." As he said this, he held his hand out to Kashia.

It was good to see that Kashia shook my brother's hand as it showed that she didn't hold any type of disdain to those weaker than her. "I'm certain that we will come to an understanding eventually. No matter your choice, I promise that I will still be willing to aid your people even if you aren't part of my village." The two leaders then pulled their hands away and I moved over to Kashia's side.

"Before we head to your village, I wanted to head back to my shack to bring my hydra Rororo with us." I announced before Kashia could teleport us.

"A hydra? No wonder your shack seemed like it'd been doused in liquid hydra. You keep surprising me more and more. I certainly like that in my friends." She finished with a cheeky grin.


	7. Chapter 7

**A Vulpine Spanner in the Works  
Chapter 7: Ninya: Divine Intervention**

**Day 5:**

I yawned as I awoke from the sunlight that streamed through my room's small window. That same window is what woke me up every morning if it wasn't cloudy which helped me when I didn't awaken on time. Sadly, this very same window only gave me a view of the sidestreet of the inn I resided and the tiled roof of the building across from the inn. This was part of the reason why the rent for this room is so much lower than the others.

Throwing off the blanket covering me, I sat up from my bed and stretched. It had been difficult to sleep last night since I couldn't help but feel nervous at the prospect of being taught by Kashia today. The thoughts had even bothered me yesterday during the simple monster hunting job outside the walls of E-Rantel.

What would she be teaching me today? Would I be able to Kashia's expectations or would I only disappoint her? I did my best to avoid thinking about Kashia ending my training because I wasn't powerful enough.

Even with my talent of magical aptitude, I couldn't help but wonder if without it, would I even be able to get to the level I am now, or would I just be a disappointing failure? It didn't help that whenever I was complimented about my magic ability, it was always compared with my innate talent. Being propped up by my talent would certainly never fade away but I could at least try to make my skills stand out higher than my innate one.

Looking down at the shirt I had worn yesterday and slept in, it looked like it needed a good washing, smelled like it too. It was at times like these that I wished I knew the **[Clean]** spell so that I didn't have to borrow the wash basin from the innkeeper. She was kind enough to let me use it without cost. I assumed that my age had something to do with it.

My age also made it increasingly difficult to hide my true gender from everyone as it was becoming more painful to bind my breasts while my face is losing the androgynous looks from before and becoming more feminine. It was even worse when I had to hide my monthly bleeding from the others without it being noticeable.

I didn't always hide my gender like this. It wasn't until two years ago when my sister was taken by a noble that I started hiding myself. I still picture the day it happened; horses ridden by soldiers charged into our village and they started to collect all girls above their tenth nameday on the excuse that 'The baron wishes to help educate young girls into proper ladies'. It was a pitiful excuse, and yet, none outside of our village would question it.

Before my sister, Tuare, was taken by the soldiers, she took me into our home and used her knife to chop off my long hair to look more boyish. After that, she quickly fitted me into some of our father's old clothing before hiding me away with her knife.

I can still remember the noises of the soldiers kicking down our door and taking my sister while she screamed and fought. I stayed in that hiding place for an entire day before leaving it to find that the whole village had been ransacked. Anyone that had put up any resistance had been beaten until their faces were barely recognizable or were killed. Many that received those beatings had died soon afterwards since we lacked access to any healers.

Tuare and I are the only family we have left, and when she was taken, I packed anything that I would need to travel before I left the village in search of her as well as to become practiced in my growing magic talent so that I could eventually rescue Tuare from wherever she might be.

Even after two years of searching, I still didn't feel closer to finding Tuare then when I started. When I traveled to the baron's castle under the guise of a job, I didn't find Tuare or any of the girls that were taken that day. Neither did I attempt to question or exact vengeance on the baron since I was too weak. I still think that I'm too weak to go back and meet that baron.

Perhaps that might change with Kashia teaching me.

Yet, the baron, Baldric, was only a single member in the group of corrupt nobles serving the Eight Fingers. It had taken a while, but I eventually dug around enough to learn about Eight Fingers. They are a criminal empire that have roots in multiple illegal activities in the Re-Estize kingdom. One of the largest businesses was slave trade until Princess Renner made the activity illegal.

When I finally rescued my sister from wherever she might be, I think that I will try and do what I can to break up the slave trade. There is enough evil in the world without groups like the Eight Fingers making it worse. This idea is still just a pipe dream at this point. I need to become more powerful first before I can attempt any of my goals.

Standing up from my bed, I walked over to where I set my pants and put them on. Next was the horrible chest bindings followed by my shirt and boots. After that, I slung my satchel over my shoulder and pulled my cloak over that.

I still had no conceivable idea about how Kashia could also tell I was female because of my body's movements. My cloak was meant to obscure how I walked, so something about my cloak must be giving away my gender. Either that or I still couldn't master hiding the movements of my hips.

Reaching into my satchel, I pulled out a dried strip of beef and started eating it to satiate my hunger. I'd need to head to the market sometime later as I was running short on supplies. I had only four strips of beef and a small amount of hardened cheese as my rations. The cheese was quite awful, but it at least deterred me from eating it unless I had no other option.

Picking up my staff that I left leaning in the corner of my room, I made one last check of all my supplies and gear to make sure I hadn't left anything behind. Staff, rations, coin pouch, adventurer knife, and my sister's knife. Everything was where it should be, so I finally opened the door of my room and left for the Adventurer's Guild.

Since it was early morning, a few of the other patrons were also leaving the around the same time I was for whatever tasks they needed to accomplish. Some were fellow guild members that were heading the same way that I was while others were more suspicious.

One of the quieter tenants of the inn, Marz, was always quiet and left each day as quickly as he could, coming back later in the night without a sound. The innkeeper, Sharice, never had a complaint about the man as he always paid his rent on time and without missing a single copper missing. I personally think that the man is involved in some type of illegal business, but I lack any proof to fully believe this.

I think that every inn has some tenants that are stranger than normal, I just happened to have chronic encounters with our inn's oddball in the mornings. Aside from Marz, there is also Selene who is a prostitute. Profession aside, she isn't hard to talk to and is quite personable when you get to know her. I would have talks with her when we met each other, yet she wasn't up this morning.

That is a bit odd. Perhaps she had a long night and is just sleeping a bit longer today.

Continuing my normal morning routine, I exited the inn and began walking the streets with multiple things on my mind. Yesterday, Peter had said that he'd picked up a job that we'd be doing with Kashia today. It's supposed to be clearing a growing horde of undead in the graveyard.

For some unusual reason, there had been a lot of jobs commissioned by the city guard to take care of the undead prowling the graveyard. Where once, we'd get requests for this job every two weeks, now we are getting requests almost every day. At this point, a lot of adventurers were getting sick of these jobs as the last small party who had entered the graveyard hadn't left.

Since then, the copper-plate rating of the jobs in the graveyard had risen to a silver-plate rating. With the rise of job classification, that meant that the job's pay should've increased. Unfortunately, the guards were too cheap to increase the pay to a proper silver-plate amount, so it had only been raised to 50 copper pieces instead of to silver coins.

That pitiful amount of pay for more dangerous work didn't attract as many silver-plate adventurers as it might've. The reason that Peter was getting us to take this job for a slight raise in pay of 60 copper pieces was due to an agreement that Peter had made with the guards. If we did this job for that small amount of pay, they'd also owe us a favor that we could cash in later.

Having a favor from the guards would be useful if we ever got in trouble or needed their help for some reason. Very valuable depending on the circumstances for calling that favor in.

I wasn't that worried about this job since Kashia would be joining us for it. With how powerful she is, there wasn't a monster that could harm her before being destroyed by her magic. That also made me a little excited as I always became giddy like a young child when I saw such high-level displays of magic. Hopefully Kashia could perform another spell that I haven't seen yet.

That spell she performed the other day to refill any mana I expended was something I'd only heard a few members of the Mage's Guild talk about, and it was normally in a negative tone. The problem with that spell is that while it allowed one caster to augment and refill the mana of another's, it sucked up so much mana from the caster that it wasn't a viable spell to learn. And yet, Kashia didn't show any sign of her mana depleting when she used it in tandem with all the other spells she casted.

It made me wonder how much mana Kashia must have compared to an average person.

These thoughts continued to plague me as I walked through the market district and bought some rations to refill my lowered stock. I always made sure to have enough rations for any situation since I started traveling and working. I've heard too many tales of travelers dying on the road due to running out of food, and I lacked the hunting and foraging skills that someone like Dyne had to survive in the wild.

After buying food, I quickened my pace to the guild to arrive on time. If this was like any normal morning, the others would be sitting at one of the tables upstairs waiting for everyone to arrive. Peter would usually be going over a battle plan for any potential encounter, while Dyne would assist by pointing out potential flaws in his plans. Lukrut would typically pick a seat by the balcony upstairs to watch people downstairs.

Unfortunately, by Lukrut's standards, that meant that he'd be ogling any attractive member of the female gender that managed to catch his eye. Though, this had lessened somewhat since he met Kashia. His eyes were usually glued on her these days, a lot of male members of the guild were. Yet yesterday, when Kashia had been working on some personal errands, Lukrut had been in a depressed mood. Even his normal ogling was less enthusiastic than usual.

In a short span of time, I finally arrived at the entrance of the guild and entered it. Inside, the building was buzzing with activity as adventurers were entering and exiting the doors repeatedly while a few lines were building up at the desks of the guild secretaries in order to take on jobs.

The activity happening now was a typical sight to see in the morning. It would slow down in an hour or so due to a lot of members taking jobs early in the morning while expecting to be finished in the late afternoon or near dusk.

Some members, typically known as carrier pigeons, received this nickname due to their tendency for taking jobs nearby the guild, completing them in an hour or two, and then coming back to the guild for another mission afterwards. Most carrier pigeons were newer members who needed the money or wanted to rank up quickly.

They weren't as hated as the job poachers who sat at the benches downstairs and waiting for an easy and high paying job to appear before quickly snatching it. There was unspoken guild etiquette that found it rude to wait for a job instead of just picking from what's available. Even now, one of the more hated job poachers, Cassius Carth, was sitting at a bench and waiting for a job to appear on the board.

Cassius showed all the signs of a job poacher. His armor, well made and expensive, hardly had any scratches on it that one would typically expect from a rich adventurer like that. He had a well-groomed face that lacked any stubble and his dark hair had been groomed and cut by a professional.

My first encounter with that man had been early in my career when I had grabbed a simple job that paid well. While in the line, Cassius had made the effort to bump into me to distract me as he switched my job flyer with another. I didn't even notice until I made it to the front desk and gave the secretary the job flyer which was completely different from what I had earlier.

I was not the first victim of that stunt of his, and I doubt that I'd be the last. It didn't help that Cassius was a gold-plate adventurer which gave him a wider range of jobs to snatch. He'd probably get his just reward one day when he pulled that stunt on the wrong adventurer. After all, not everyone in the guild is a moral person. There are quite a few criminals within our ranks that people didn't want to mess with.

"Hello, my cute little student! Miss me?" I couldn't help but jump at hearing the voice and feeling a pair of hands on my shoulders. Looking over my shoulder, I saw the grinning face of Kashia as my heart tried to slow down.

"Did you really have to spook me like that, Kashia? And, when did you even get here?"

"Just after you did. Surprised that you didn't notice me. Guess you were really deep in thought when you walked here." How in the world did someone like Kashia not get noticed? Everything about her screamed attention grabbing. That question would have to be answered another day, and hopefully Kashia would actually answer it.

"Right…" I replied unconvinced, "Shall we go upstairs to meet with the others? They're waiting for us." Kashia nodded and the two of us started walking towards the stairs. "By the way, did you accomplish whatever it was that you were trying to do yesterday?"

"I certainly did. And, before you ask, no; I'll possibly tell you what I was doing at a later date." Was she reading my mind? Because her answer was frighteningly accurate to what I wanted to ask her. "Anything interesting happen with you and the others?"

"Not much, just a boring monster slaying job. We should be getting a silver-plate job in the E-Rantel graveyards to clear out the undead." Kashia looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"That's strange. I took on one of those jobs a few days ago. How come there are still a lot of undead running around after I cleared them out? Are the guards just too lazy to do their jobs?" So, she also pulled a graveyard shift? I could imagine the destruction she caused when she accomplished that job which makes me wonder how there is still a chronic slew of undead striding about the graveyard?

"While the guards can be lazy, the reason that the ones guarding the graveyard hire adventurers to deal with the undead is because they are meant to be ready to fight for the city at a moments notice while us adventurers normally take a neutral stance in political actions of the countries. If the city were to be attacked by the Slane or Baharuth, the guards would need to be ready instead of the adventurers. So, they hire the job to adventurers in order to lessen the risk of getting injured."

Kashia didn't get to question me further as the two of us were called over by Peter. "C'mon you two. We've been waiting for you to show up." I couldn't help but smile at the blond's invitation. It was strange how Peter could always make me feel positive about my day. I guess his natural charisma helped in that matter.

Actually, it was pretty amusing how Peter could unintentionally steal the hearts of a few of the girls he encountered. He could be so oblivious at times that he wouldn't even notice how his presence caused girls to react.

"Good morning, everyone!" I returned to my team as Kashia and I hurried over to their table.

"Hello, boys." Kashia said in that breathy tone of hers. "Mind informing the two of us on what happening at the graveyard?" The two of us quickly took our seats at the table and got a better view of a map of E-Rantel that was splayed out on the table.

"Ah, Ninya informed you about what we're doing today. That's good, though I need to inform you about the rest of the job that I didn't tell the rest of you yet. I wanted your opinions first before we did it."

"What opinions?" Lukrut and I asked together.

"There is a side objective to our job which involves a rescue mission. Since yesterday, a group of adventurers called Dragon Furnace went missing in the graveyard. They were supposed to clear out undead up to the Hangman's Tree about a hundred and fifty yards from the entrance gate. While it's not an actual objective in the job at hand, I was asked to try search for them as a personal favor to a friend. What do you think?"

This must be serious if someone was personally asking Peter for help. Even with my doubts that Dragon Furnace was still alive in that graveyard, I couldn't ignore that there might be a chance to save them or, at the very least, bring back their bodies for their loved ones.

"I'm fine with this side objective." I answered quickly.

"I also agree with Ninya. If we can save Dragon Furnace, then we should." Dyne answered with that altruistic side of his. If there was one personality trait that anyone could think of when talking about Dyne is the unerring kindness that he showed everyone. Even with him being a silver-plate adventurer, there were quite a few gold-plate groups that would love to recruit our druid due to his reliability and personality.

To be honest, I always felt that Dyne might be much stronger than he let on, at least low-leveled gold-plate if I underestimated it. His connection with nature is quite strong, and I always felt that he could use his druidic magic with greater intensity than he displayed normally. Perhaps, he held himself back because he preferred our team compared to a gold-plated group.

With Kashia joining us, and the immense amounts of power that she barely reined in, it might get Dyne to display more of his real strength since Kashia didn't tend to hold back. Even those spells that she casted the other day, while lower leveled, were charged with an intense amount of mana behind them. She only held back from wiping out all the ogres and goblins at once since she wanted to see what we could do.

"What would the Swords of Darkness be if they didn't have their trusty archer by their side?" Lukrut stated with a grin as he propped his feet up onto the table and leaned back into his chair. With everyone accepting the side mission, there was only one person left who hadn't answered yet…

"I don't doubt your skills, Lucky, but I'm going to accept since someone has to make sure that all of you make it out of this job in one piece. And," Much to my surprise, Kashia wrapped her arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to her, "I have to make sure that my little student is able to train with me today!" I couldn't help but blush at how doting Kashia was acting right now.

Peter laughed, whether at my current predicament or just from pure joy, before he spoke, "Excellent! Thank you all for agreeing with his side objective. We should start heading to the cemetery now while the sun is shining down on us and hopefully take care of the undead and find Dragon Furnace before the daylight is hidden behind the walls." After saying this, Peter got out of his chair which signaled for the rest of us to do the same.

Peter wasn't wrong in wishing to get this task done quickly while we still had daylight. The undead in the cemetery tended to become stronger in darker areas, and the tall walls surrounding the cemetery tended to block the sunlight after the noon passed. It didn't help that the cemetery tended to be foggy for some reason which obscured any undead reaching out from their graves or lying on the ground in wait.

The Mage's Guild theorized that this perpetual fog was a side effect of whatever magical phenomenon caused the undead to rise. That created more questions than answers which bothered the naturally curious side of myself. Why might fog arise due to undeath? A question that still lacked any answer.

As the five of us stood together, I thought about why the undead in the cemetery were appearing in greater numbers than before? Some of the more religious citizens of E-Rantel claimed that it was a sign of displeasure from the gods of their displeasure about our continuous war with the Baharuth. I highly doubted that if the gods were displeased, they'd only raise some undead instead of performing more noticeable signs. I'd be more believing of the gods' displeasure if lightning rained down from the sky and started smiting people.

Actually, when I talked to Dyne the other day, he noted that it felt like the life force of the plants and animals of the city were slowly being drained. If there was any logical answer for why the undead were appearing more often, I'd hazard a guess that it'd be due to what was happening to the life force of the city.

"Pop quiz, kiddo!" Kashia stated which pulled me from my thoughts.

"Pop quiz? What's that?" I'd never heard that term used before, it sounded strange.

"It's just a name for a quick and unexpected test that is short. Now, enough about asking me questions since I'm the one that's meant to be asking all the questions. Ready?" While I did wish to ask what she was planning, I remained quiet due to her command. She must be trying to learn about what knowledge I already knew.

"Ready." I answered with determination.

"What types of magic and attacks are undead weak against?"

"Bludgeoning attacks along with fire and holy magic are their major weaknesses." I answered confidently.

"Good answer, though you did miss that they have a weakness to attacks attuned to the good alignment." I groaned at how I missed that weakness. The good alignment attacks were rarer to see than the other three. "Chin up, kiddo. You can't always be right, and failures are meant to inspire you to remember that knowledge for later."

"I'll try and keep that in mind." I answered with a nod.

"Here's another question; what types of attacks are undead immune to?"

While that question was slightly harder, I quickly tried to recall everything I learned about undead up to now, "They can't be affected by mind-altering attacks, sleep effects, poisons, and disease. Those are all that come to mind right now."

"Very good. Just remember to add that they have immunities to energy-draining attacks and a biological need to breathe. I've seen adventurers that didn't learn about an undead's weaknesses beforehand and popped off spells that worked against average monsters like goblins or orcs. They quickly got their ass handed to them along with their pride." The utter amusement in Kashia's voice as she said this told me that what she saw was likely very funny.

"What happened to the adventurer afterwards?"

"I decided to help after watching them run about like a headless chicken. Both of us had been exploring the same dungeon, and I felt a little grateful to the person for going ahead and setting off all the traps so that I didn't accidentally trigger them. Wasn't the last time I encountered them, but that's a story for another day." She said, ending the tale of hers, "From all the weaknesses we've discussed about the undead, what spells do you know that can capitalize on them?"

"I can cast **[Firebolt]**, **[Flame Wave]**, **[Magic Missile]**, and **[Force Blast]**. I don't have any spells that can utilize the holy or good element which prevents me from using those damage types." I answered in slight nervousness as I hoped that my spell list wouldn't disappoint her.

"Quite respectable. You have the fire and potential bludgeoning damage depending on how you utilize your spells. Though, I recommend that you pick up at least one spell of the holy or good element if able since you never know if an undead has some item or trait that negates fire and bludgeoning damage. From my experience, fire resistance is more popular to use than others."

"As an archer, it can get annoying dealing with undead at times." Lukrut spoke up next to us. The blond pulled out an arrow from his quiver to show the arrow's sharp tip. "Depending on the undead, these arrows can fly through their bodies without even damaging anything." He stuck the arrow back into his quiver before reaching inside once more and pulling out a new arrow with a tip that was much broader than the previous one. More like a bulb with a point than an arrowhead.

"It's why I started making these arrows. While they create more air resistance than my other arrows, these bullhead arrows slam into undead like a club." Lukrut bragged with a grin.

"How many of those arrows do you have stored on you?" Kashia asked with interest.

"Fifteen. The downside of these arrows is that they take up more space than normal arrows. My arrow count in total would be thirty-five." No doubt, those arrows also weighed Lukrut down more than his usual arrows due to the greater amount of metal making up the tips.

Kashia put a finger under her chin in thought after hearing Lukrut's answer. "Seems that your skills as an archer are being held back by how much you can carry. I might have a solution to that problem, but you'd need to give me a day or so to get it ready." That grabbed Lukrut's attention and caused the archer to sidle up next to Kashia.

"Oh, a solution? I'd love to hear what your idea might be?" The blond asked excitedly. Kashia simply tapped her fingers against Lukrut's forehead and caused the blond the be slightly pushed back.

"Patience is a virtue. It's rude to rush a woman, after all." She playfully patted Lukrut's cheek before picking up her pace and laughing. The pair of us looked at each other, and I couldn't tell if his face was turning red due to Kashia's patting or because he was blushing. That torch that Lukrut was carrying for Kashia was unlikely to go out anytime soon.

Hopefully, Kashia didn't end up breaking his heart. I highly doubt that Celica's restaurant had enough alcohol stocked to handle a depressed Lukrut. Celica had certainly seen Lukrut drink himself to unconsciousness due to a bad breakup. Part of the problem was that the romantic archer tended to chase women that were beautiful but were horrible human beings.

Kashia didn't seem like that. She acted quite kind, though I haven't spent enough time around her to confirm if that was an act or not. One thing for certain; I believe that Kashia has a bit of a sadistic streak from the way that she acted when talking about my training.

"Ninya, you think I've got a chance with her?" Lukrut asked me. I gave him a glance before patting him on the back.

"No idea. I wish you luck on your quest since it appears that you're going to need it." I believe that the best course of action when dealing with a lovesick man and a woman who could easily kill him is to stay back and watch it play out. I've seen Lukrut's attempts at romance and have learned since then to stay back and let him figure it out on his own.

The rest of the journey to the cemetery wasn't anything to write home about. It was quite dull, and yet, I could see Kashia discussing something with Peter in depth. I could only assume that it might be plans for the job which I didn't wish to interrupt just in case it might be something important.

It wasn't until we arrived at the front gate of the cemetery that anything of interest could be noted. Up ahead, a pair of guards could be seen standing in front of the gate, while atop the walls connected to the gate were multiple other guards that were focused on something within the cemetery.

When we approached the gate, the two guards began looking us over with bored interest until their eyes landed on Kashia. The moment they saw her, their eyes grew wide with shock…and fear?

What could Kashia have possibly done to make these guys afraid of her? "Oh shit, the woman is back!" I heard the bearded guard loudly whisper to his partner. Both quickly stopped slouching and stood straight like arrows.

"Hello, boys, remember me?" Kashia loudly asked as we approached the pair.

"Y-Yeah. Do you need anything? Should we open the gate and get out of your way?" The bearded guard quickly stammered. The reaction of the guard wasn't noticed by only me, as the others gave the blonde questioning looks.

"Uh, Kashia, how do you know these guys?" Peter asked with interest.

"My first day here, I took a job to clear out some undead in the cemetery. _Unfortunately_," Kashia emphasized while glancing at the terrified guards, "these two doubted my ability to handle myself. I proved them wrong when I turned the undead, the cemetery, and the headstones into a molten crater." Upon saying this, she snapped her fingers and allowed a small ball of fire to burst alight in her hand.

"Oh." Peter said in surprise, not that I could blame him. Even with my knowledge that Kashia was probably the strongest mage that I've encountered, it still seemed hard to believe that someone could have so much power without seeing proof of it.

Regardless of the party's thoughts on what we just learned; Peter fell back into his calm demeanor to keep the rest of us focused. "Mind letting us through? We're the group called the Swords of Darkness that were hired to help clear out the cemetery."

"Right away!" The bearded guard answered quickly. Then, he and his partner walked up to the gate and removed the heavy wooden plank that was barring the gate. Normally, I would assume that it might take more than two men to lift the plank barring the door, but the two guards seemed empowered to remove the plank as quickly as possible to get us on our way.

After pulling one of the doors of the gate open, the bearded one said, "You can proceed now! Good luck!" Then he and his partner hugged their backs to the wall and waited.

Kashia and Peter were the first to step through the gate, and I believe that the sorceress winked at the two guards as she passed them. The rest of us quickly followed after them and arrived on the other side of the gate.

We finally were able to witness what Kashia was talking about we looking less than forty meters ahead of us. The ground was completely blackened and dead around a crater with a radius of ten meters. The remains of gravestones could be spotted surrounding this crater and were mostly melted.

What kind of heat would be required to melt stone?

I was pulled out of my thoughts when the gate behind us slammed shut. I glanced over my shoulder and narrowed my eyes at the cowardly guards. It was moments like these that made it hard for adventurers to respect city guards of any main city.

Typically, guards posted at cities were weaker and more cowardly than those posted on the roads or those drafted for the unending wars with Baharuth. The reason that these cities had lower quality guards was due to said guards either being really lucky in getting posted here or they bribed their way to a cushy job away from any real conflict.

The problem got worse the closer you were to the kingdom's capitol as the bribery was worse and the influence of the criminal organization known as Eight Fingers got stronger. It was one of the reasons that E-Rantel was more tolerable than most cities in the kingdom as it was the only city standing between us and the blood-soaked Katze plains.

"Those guys were in a hurry." Lukrut noted to the rest of us as he unslung his bow from his shoulder and nocked an arrow in preparation, "Maybe we should try to do the same."

"I agree." Dyne stated as he pulled out his mace, "Something feels wrong with this cemetery. Something unnatural." I couldn't stop the chills that ran down my spine when Dyne said this. Normally, the druid was completely calm and unflappable, yet the tense demeanor that he emitted put me on edge.

"At the very least, I can spot Hangman's Tree up ahead. Shouldn't take us that long to get there." Peter said while drawing his sword.

"Even better, the undead are coming to us. We'll probably clear out enough undead by the time we get to said tree." Kashia added. Up ahead, I could see the standard undead moving towards us while more were digging themselves out of the ground to join the growing horde.

"I don't think that I brought enough arrows for this." Lukrut said as he loosed an arrow at the horde ahead of us, easily scoring a headshot that downed the monster. This seemed to cause the horde to charge towards us as one.

Lukrut began firing his arrows repeatedly while I joined the ranged fighting by evoking firebolts at the charging undead. We were eventually joined by Kashia, who strangely shot spears of ice at the undead. Even stranger was the way that the undead reacted when pierced by these ice spears. The moment a spear touched or pierced them, they would stop moving while bright white light shot out of their orifices like geysers. Then they would collapse and stop moving.

"Kashia, what type of ice spell causes undead to react like that?" I asked while continuing to fire attacks at the slowly shrinking horde.

"It's not due to it being an ice spell. It's enhanced with holy magic." She then stopped firing ice spears at the horde and patted Peter and Dyne on their shoulders. The moment she did so, both were shrouded by white auras that faded to barely visible levels. "You two are buffed. Go kick some ass." The sorceress then pushed the fighters forwards with an encouraging pat on their backs.

With that accomplished, the two fighters charged forwards and eventually met the undead horde midway between us. Under normal circumstances, anyone would assume that those two would be swallowed up by that horde and quickly killed. Instead, the moment the first skeleton scraped its hand against Dyne, a blast of bright light emitted from Dyne and launched the skeleton and any undead near it backwards.

Upon seeing the effects of Kashia's spell, Peter and Dyne seemed to become invigorated with new strength. This could be seen as the pair started cutting the undead down like a pair of holy paladins. I couldn't help but chuckle at how giddy the pair seemed in the midst of an undead horde.

"Really happy that we have Kashia with us now. This job would've been awful without those spells of hers." Lukrut stated as he fired another arrow at a zombie that seemed more interested in us than Peter and Dyne.

"Is it normal for this many undead to be prowling about? It wasn't as crowded when I was last here." Kashia asked while picking off any undead that tried to approach our fighters while they were occupied.

"Not really. Largest wave I've seen yet." I answered. And it was true, I've never seen this many undead grouped up in the cemetery like they were now. Reminded me more of the tales that some soldiers told us in the guild about the Katze Plains. Most battles out there became a three-way battle between Re-Estize, Baharuth, and the undead that prowled the plains.

From what I heard; it's been becoming such a problem that both nations tended to enter an unofficial truce to clear undead from the battlefield before starting their next battle. Yet, it was an effort in futility since the undead that they destroyed would quickly be replaced by the casualties of their latest battle.

"Then I'll try to give you all some breathing room." When Kashia said this, she stopped firing ice spears at the horde and held her hand out which caused a magic circle to spiral out from her palm.

Instantly upon doing this, the ground, under a section of the undead horde behind the section that Peter and Dyne were fighting, grew stony teeth before growing into a massive pair of jaws that snapped up a massive section of the horde and quickly crushed them with a few chomps. Then, the stony jaws sunk into the ground with their hapless victims in tow. The rest of the skirmish was quickly taken care of as Peter and Dyne eradicated the remaining horde.

When the last zombie was put down with a slam of Dyne's mace, Lukrut and I looked at Kashia with shocked expressions at what just transpired. "Kashia, why didn't you just lead with that?" Lukrut asked.

"I wanted to give you all a chance to feel good about yourselves. That changed when I felt a little worried that the horde might be too much for all of you to handle." Kashia answered as she took off her spectacles and quickly cleaned them before putting them back on.

"Makes me feel a little sad that you didn't believe that we could take care of ourselves." Lukrut said with disappointment.

"Sorry about that. I'm still not completely used to fighting with others, and I become quite worried that you guys could get hurt. I'll try to be less coddling if that's what you want?" Kashia apologized with a smile. The way she was acting seemed more like a mother than a teammate. In a way, it seemed quite funny to be honest.

Eventually, Peter and Dyne joined up with us and were still grinning like a pair of loons. I think that spell of Kashia's did more than just protect the pair of them, either that or they were still filled with a rush from the battle.

"That was one of the more excitable jobs in the cemetery that we've taken. What was that spell that swallowed up all those undead?" Peter asked as he rested his sword on his pauldron.

"It's called **[Jaws of the Earth Dragon]**. The spell can swallow up a large group of enemies and pull them underground to be crushed if they don't escape quickly enough." Kashia answered while resting her hands on her hips. "I think it's appropriate that the dead were returned back to where they belong."

I'll be honest, if I ever got to learn a high tier spell, that would be one of the first that I'd choose. It looked amazing in practice, and it would be so useful when fighting larger groups of enemies. Even with how long I've been using magic, it still amazed me with the way that I could become completely enamored with seeing powerful spells being cast. It was like I was a young child, again, watching a traveling mage performing tricks for the village children.

"Even so, more might rise up, and I'd rather not have our investigation get interrupted by more hordes. Ready to move?" Peter remarked to the rest of us while scanning the area for more enemies.

"I'm in agreement. I don't like being around dead bodies at the best of times, especially when those bodies are trying to tear my throat out." Lukrut added. That was also the moment that I noticed that Lukrut's quiver was running dangerously short of arrows.

"We should hurry then. The tree is just up ahead." I stated to the others. We quickly marched forwards after this, with Peter and Dyne taking the lead and chopping down any zombie or skeleton that attempted to crawl from the ground ahead of us. At the same time, Kashia remained at the back of the party and incinerated any undead that tried to attack us from behind or at the sides.

Lukrut and I remained in the middle and slayed any undead coming from the sides. I'm guessing the only reason the two of us got to take down any undead was because Kashia let them come towards us. Probably to let us feel like we were actually helping the party instead of being useless.

It wasn't long before we finally reached the appropriately named Hangman's Tree. From what history I remember of E-Rantel, before the cemetery grew as large and infested with undead as it is now, executions were performed here. Criminals would be taken to these trees and hung until death. Following this, their bodies would be dumped into a shallow grave and forgotten.

The two theories that have become widely accepted is that due to the strong emotions from those that were executed, as well as, the treatment and desecration of their bodies, it caused either the souls of the spiteful dead to vengefully hunt those who refused them a proper burial or that the gods themselves, seeing such horrific actions of the mortals, to curse this land and never allow the dead to rest as long as the bodies of the desecrated were refused a proper burial.

I tended to believe the first theory before the second. From what I've read, undead tended to rise where great bloodshed or conflict occurred. And based on E-Rantel's history of executing criminals here, that fulfilled the bloodshed requirement.

Even now, as we approached the tree, I could spot the rotten and molded remnants of nooses that were still tied to the branches of the tree. I couldn't help but wonder how many had been sentenced to die by those ropes? Even worse was the thought of how many of the criminals hung on those ropes might have been innocent.

"Guys, look around the tree for clues, but stay on guard for any more undead." Peter ordered. We didn't say much as we began walking around the tree and looked for any clues that the members of Dragon Furnace might have been here. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for me to spot something of interest.

When I had circled to the back of the tree, I spotted something that stood out within this cemetery. On one of the roots of the tree that grew from the ground, I spotted a forearm that held onto the root in an unbreaking grip.

While the limb of a dead body wasn't that odd to be strewn about the cemetery, what was odd was the condition of the limb. Brown cloth of a torn shirt still remained tucked into a well-maintained gauntlet with a strange symbol carved into the top of the gauntlet. The location of where the limb had been torn off was covered in dried blood, with some of this dried blood having long since dripped onto the ground.

"Guys, I think I found something of interest!" I called out to the others. Quickly enough, the group arrived to where I stood and looked down at the unattached limb. Kashia was the first to approach the limb, where she slowly kneeled down and took an audible sniff near the limb.

When she finished, Kashia spoke over her shoulder to us, "The limb is recent and lacks any form of rotting smell that undead usually exude. Blood also still smells relatively recent, even if it has already coagulated." Disturbingly, Kashia then gripped the forearm by the rest and ripped it off the root of the tree with the audible sound of the bones in the fingers breaking.

She then walked over to Peter with the limb in hand before holding it out to him. "The armor on this arm has an unusual symbol on it. Do you recognize it?"

When Peter investigated the limb, his eyes quickly sparked with recognition before he looked back at Kashia. "That's the symbol for Dragon Furnace. Most of their armor was made by one of their members. He was known for etching his symbol into each piece that he worked on." Slowly, Peter took the limb from Kashia and pulled out a small burlap sack from his bag that he stored the limb inside.

"Selene is going to be upset when she sees this." The blond muttered to himself, "Kashia, would your sense of smell be able to follow the smell of this limb?"

"I'm unable to track the owner of that limb by smell from a far distance right now. The combination of this graveyard and the stench of the city hinders me in that regard. But," She then pointed towards a muddied area further past the tree, "the scent of that arm, as well as anyone else, disappears at that spot. Almost like they were dragged underground."

Peter glanced at the muddied area before waving at us to follow him. He didn't say anything, but I already assumed that we might be digging up that section of the cemetery. Upon arriving at the mud, Kashia waved her hand which caused a magic circle to flash before her.

Moments later, the dirt before us began churning until it started to act like a liquid while anything in the dirt started floating to the surface like logs of wood. While there were skeletons and older, rotten bodies that floated to the surface, I quickly spotted a group of four bodies that looked relatively new in comparison.

All of them were covered in mud, yet one of the corpses that wore mud-caked armor was missing their right arm. With another wave of her hand, the four bodies floated over to us before being deposited onto the ground in front of Peter.

Peter quickly wiped mud off the armor of the corpses, eventually revealing the same symbol we found on the gauntlet also being etched into the other armors of the group. We had found the bodies of Dragon Furnace. Yet, I didn't understand why their bodies had been buried in the ground like they were. Undead didn't have any drive except to kill the living, so why had the members of Dragon Furnace been dumped into the ground?

"I don't understand. Why were all of them buried in the ground?" Lukrut asked. "Undead don't bury bodies."

"It's quite obvious," Kashia answered, "there was an intelligence that wanted these four buried. It could've been a criminal that killed them with the hope that the undead would be blamed. But, the other option is that a necromancer commanded the undead to kill these four for some unknown reason. Either way, we should figure out what we want to do with the bodies and leave this place quickly. We don't know if whoever buried these four might still be watching us."

"We should take the bodies with us and leave them with the guards. I can contact my friend afterwards to verify them." Peter reasoned with a slow nod.

"If we're finally finished with this job, then can we get out of here? This place is really freaking me out." Lukrut asked. I was in agreement with his assessment. Especially since Kashia seemed uncharacteristically serious.

It was a silent trek out of the cemetery as all of us continued to think about how the members of Dragon Furnace had been killed. It could've been an accident or it could've been intentional. It was very likely to be intentional from the evidence that we'd seen, and Kashia let the guards know this when we left the bodies with them. After this, the guards quickly paid us for our job and we headed back to the guildhall to register the job's completion with the guild.

Oddly, even with everything that I'd seen, my excitement for my training after the job was barely marred. In fact, my urge for training was filled with resolve as if I got stronger in my magic abilities, then I could be more likely to prevent such a tragedy from happening in the future. After we split the money up among us, Peter was the first to leave so that he could give his friend the news. Following this, Kashia and I left the guildhall for training.

* * *

"Kiddo, do you feel up to do training today? I'll understand if you need a bit of time to process everything that you've seen." Kashia asked me as we traversed through the city.

"I've seen much worse when my village was attacked." I answered. When the Baron sent his men to take the girls of my village, they didn't just take the girls. They killed many of the protesting villagers very horrifically. Some had their stomachs cut open to let their innards spill out. From what a few of the survivors said, a few had still been alive attempting to put their innards back into their bodies.

My answer satisfied Kashia as she gave me a nod. Then, she asked me something surprising, "Lukrut told me a bit about your past. Not everything, mind you, but enough to give me a basic idea about who you are. Would you be open to telling me a bit more about yourself or would you like to wait?"

Ever since I left my village, I'd only told the rest of our team about everything that had happened to my village, the way that my sister was taken, how I'd spent years looking for my sister. In all of this time, it's been so rare to hear someone ask me about my past in the village.

"What did he tell you?" I asked, quieter than expected.

"Only that you've had a harder life than most, and that your sister was taken by nobles. Would you be willing to share more?"

I was silent for a few moments as I processed this. Then, I spoke, "I grew up in the village of Sunreed. It was named after the gold color of the reeds that populated the small lake near us. We were a simple people that mainly exported crops and fish. But, since our village was small and away from major cities, we were ruled over by a lesser baron that tended to abuse his position due to how far away from his lords we were. But, even with the greater tithes that we had to pay, the people of Sunreed eked out a living."

Thinking about how my parents and sister would remain positive even during our harder times caused a smile to grace my lips. "It wasn't all bad, at times, travelers would come by with things to entertain us with. There was a mage that came to our village once and performed spells for us. And, once a year, we would have a summer festival to celebrate another year of good harvest. There'd be a carrot cake that Old Seville would cook for the village which was the highlight of every year."

I can still remember what Seville's cakes tasted like, and never have I been able to find anything close in taste to what Seville made. Sadly, the secret to her cakes died with her.

"Unfortunately, a few years ago, a sickness came to our village and took so many of us, even my parents weren't spared from the fever. And, since we were so far from any city, we couldn't get healers to the sick until it was too late. When the sickness had finally passed, about half of the village had died. That was the beginning of Sunreed's hardships."

"Since so many villagers died, our production had taken a nosedive and we couldn't keep up with the baron's tithes. I learned later on that the baron had a love for living a lavish lifestyle. Clothing, food, feasts, you name it. He was able to afford it because of the large tithes that he made us pay. Yet, when we couldn't produce as much as he demanded, that lavish lifestyle ate into his coffers. I think it's the reason that he sent his men to our village one day."

"They came to take the girls of our village that had reached their tenth nameday or higher. My sister saw this and ran to where I had been playing. She didn't say anything as she took me inside our house and used her knife to chop my hair down. Then, she put me in some of our father's old clothing and hid me away with her knife. Soon after, the baron's men arrived at our house and took her away. I don't know where she is, but I have been searching for her for the past two years. Two years, and I still don't feel any closer." I finally finished my tale with a long intake of breath.

Then, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking at the gloved hand, and then up to Kashia's eyes. I expected to see pity or anger within her orange eyes, instead, they contained a warmth to them that I hadn't seen directed at me in years. "Ninya, you don't have to look for your sister alone anymore. I'll help you."

"W-What?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Kashia stopped us from walking any further and turned me to face her. "I promise you, right now, if you are willing to delay your training for a little longer then I will find and bring your sister back to you alive by the end of this day." I felt my heart pumping hard at what Kashia just promised.

I'd be able to see my sister…

Two years of searching would finally be over…

"Y-You can b-bring Tuare back t-to me?" My voice kept choking as I tried to speak.

"When I make a promise, I keep it. Would you like to see your sister today?" I couldn't speak at this point, so I just nodded. "Then, we'll go get your sister." I couldn't stop myself from wrapping Kashia in a hug and just repeating the words 'Thank you' over and over.

She returned the gesture, and in a single moment, the world warped around us until the floor beneath us was no longer a cobblestone road and instead was made of wooden planks. When I broke away from the embrace, I noticed that we were both standing inside of a room of an inn. At least, I thought it was an inn since the distant noises of patrons could be heard from here.

"If you're wondering where we are, it's just my room in the Hero's Respite. Now, take a seat since I'll need your assistance for the spell that I'll be casting." I was quiet as I followed Kashia's instructions and sat down at the small table in her room. She then took a seat at the other side of the table.

"Now, I have a few methods to locate your sister. One of them would take time since I don't know where I should be looking, the other is unavailable since I don't have an item of your sister's to use, and the final method will take preparation to cast." Kashia stated. I quickly reached into my satchel and pulled out Tuare's dagger.

"That's Tuare's. I've held onto it for all of these years. Can you still use it for your spell?" I quickly said. Kashia simply smirked before she reached over and picked up the dagger. Holding it gently, she inspected the object before looking back at me.

"This will do." Kashia said before setting the dagger back down onto the table. "The spell that I'll be using locates the owners of an object. Since this was your sister's dagger before entering your possession, the spell can still find her. It just needs to be cast at a higher level." She held her hand above the dagger and spoke, "**[Locate Owner]**."

A white magic circle appeared above the dagger. Then, a glowing orb floated upwards from the dagger until it stopped at Kashia's eyelevel. "Ninya, no matter what you see or what might be happening to your sister, remain calm." After giving this warning, the orb began to dim and revealed the image of a bed with a naked woman laying upon it.

The woman was unnaturally thin and looked like she hadn't bathed in some time. Her body was covered in so many bruises and cuts, especially on her lower body. It was horrific, especially since even with all the filth, the cuts, and the bruises, I knew this woman. I knew that blonde hair, those turquoise eyes, that face…

It was Tuare.

I tried to remain calm, yet I found the act to be increasingly difficult the more I examined all the abuse that my sister had taken. How much pain must she be in from all of those untreated wounds?

"Ninya, we're going to teleport to your sister's location. I'll do what I can to get her into a moving condition, then I'll be sending Tuare and you back to my room. Understand?" I tore my eyes away from Tuare and quickly nodded to Kashia. Then, she stood up from her chair, I followed in suit. A moment later, the entire room warped and we arrived at the foot of the bed that Tuare was on.  
The first thing I noticed upon arriving here was the stench, it smelled of old sex and sweat. Even through these walls, I could hear moans and screams of pain and pleasure. If the stench smelled terrible to me, I couldn't help but wonder how much worse it must be for Kashia?

Regardless of what Kashia must be smelling, she still moved quickly to the side of the bed and whispered, "**[Healing of Freya]**." The moment that Kashia cast her spell on Tuare, I noticed an immediate difference. Her skin took on a redder hue as the bruises and cuts all over her body faded and healed until no sign of injury remained. Finally, the labored breathing of Tuare stopped while her chest rose and fell in a healthy cadence.

"Ninya, can you pick your sister up?" I took a place at the side of the bed and scooped Tuare up in my arms. What worried me was how light Tuare felt as I cradled her in my arms. "I'm going to send you back to my room. Stay there until I come back." I didn't get a chance to respond as I found myself back in the room of Hero's Respite.

Quickly, I walked over to the lone bed in Kashia's room and set Tuare down before I pulled the bedsheets over her. I held Tuare's thin hand in my own, fully afraid that if I let her go, she might disappear on me again.

Then, I cried tears of joy.

I had my sister back…

* * *

**Hello, Ten-Tailed-God here.**

**It's nice to see that people like this story on this site. I'll let you know now that this has been reposted from Spacebattles to , but I mainly did so because I've been getting back to writing things on again. To answer a question now, there's one more chapter after this that'll be reposted tomorrow from Spacebattles before I've caught up to the same point. But, and it's a big one, I plan to post chapter 9 by the end of this week to early next week.**

**To answer a few questions that you've been asking:**

**-Kashia won't be getting a harem to my knowledge. I have a thing against harems, mainly because they seem impractical most of the time, and that it's something I wasn't really focusing on while writing this. Probable romance, but you'll have to wait a while to see how it plays out.**

**-People have been asking about Ainz/Momonga, and my answer to this is...Ahahahahahahaha :D**

**-I will be focusing more on Kashia working more closely on her town herself starting chapter 9.**

**-And finally, I'm going to be posting Kashia's stat sheet with chapter 8 tomorrow.**

**With all of that settled, I'll be seeing all of you tomorrow. Thanks for all of the support, I truly appreciate it and I will try to be faster with my updating schedule. Thankfully, my spring break was extended for University because of a corona scare, so I'll have plenty of time to do so. Until next time.**

**Stay Frosty My Friends.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Vulpine Spanner in the Works**

**Chapter 8: Grindhouse**

**[Kashia]**

It was hard to keep calm in front of Ninya after arriving here. If she knew everything occurring in this wretched place the way that I did, then no doubt she'd be thankful that her human senses obscured so much of the world from her mind.

Even as I healed Tuare, I could hear young boys and girls crying in pain through the walls. I could hear some of the _slaves_ of this place praying for freedom, death, or something in between. The stench of sickness, sex, death, and blood assailed by nostrils. It took all my will to hide my shaking rage from Ninya, yet I managed to calmly tell her after healing Tuare, "Ninya, can you pick your sister up?"

If I hadn't healed the blonde girl before telling my student this, I doubt that some of her ribs and pelvis wouldn't break under the new pressure. There were many fractures in her bones that I needed to heal, and a lot of the fractures were gathered around her chest and pelvis. No doubt due to their _rough use_…

Thankfully, Ninya did so without questioning me. Then, I told her, "I'm going to send you back to my room. Stay there until I come back." I could see the ghost of a question grow on her lips, but I didn't give her a chance to speak as I teleported her back to Hero's Respite. She didn't need to see this.

_She wouldn't witness my wrath!_

It was when Ninya was finally gone that I let my illusion that hid my true form finally fall down to reveal my non-human features. One of my first actions after doing this was to let my bristling tails smash the bed in front of me into pieces. I didn't care about how much noise I made right now; I just needed an immediate outlet for everything I felt.

Even if one of these _despicable monsters_ heard the noise I made and saw my true form, they wouldn't get the chance to tell anyone after I was done.

"**[Message]**." I announced as I felt the spell connect to the intended recipient.

"Hey, boss. Is there a reason that you're calling me right now? I'm a bit busy trying to keep the fish you brought yesterday from dying due to a lack of any form of ecosystem in the lake you just made. Kinda didn't think that whole idea through, did-"

"Not now. I am beyond angry right now and require you to answer me a question." I interrupted before my copy could go off into a tangent.

There was a slight pause before my copy spoke in a more serious tone, "Boss, what happened and what do you need me to do?"

"I found myself in the den of a bunch of sex slavers. Do we have any area to hold prisoners in and do we have any available beds for injured?"

"Thankfully, there were some jail cells made in the guard towers since I expected that we might eventually get some extremely enthusiastic citizens that needed a drunk tank for a night or two. There are also plenty of rooms and beds for more guests. I got finished making them for potential expansion." My copy answered, much to my relief.

"Good. I'm going to resummon you to where I am right now." I quickly cut the call after saying this followed quickly by ending the **[Replicant]** spell. Then, I cast the spell again and watched as my copy grew to life in front of me. Where she once may have had that sly grin on her face like usual, she instead had an uncharacteristic dour look.

"I thought that I'd seen a lot of shitty things in life, but what happened to Tuare took the fucking cake. What's your orders?" I couldn't help but nod in agreement with my copy before answering her question.

"We're going to go full salting the earth in this hellhole. When I leave this room, you will seal all entrances and exits of this building. You will also cut off all forms of communication, magical or otherwise. All guilty parties will be _dealt with by me_. You will heal and take any _innocents_ you find back to the settlement." I avoided using the word _slave _when referring to any of the people trapped in here. They were better than that, unlike the _pieces of shit who perpetuated their suffering._

With the plan in place, the two of us walked out of Tuare's former room and entered the hallway of this building. I couldn't help but smile as I heard footsteps quickly running to my location, no doubt attracted by the noises I made.

Around the corner at the end of the hallway, I spotted a man running near me with muscles bigger than whatever brains he had. When he finally noticed me, he didn't get the chance to say a word as I flicked a tail at the man and impaled his head into the wall.

Well, he _had _some brains once.

Ripping my tail out of the man's head, I noted that there were three more doors leading off to other rooms in this hallway. The closest door to me, opposite the room I just exited, was the first room I started with.

Using one of my tails, I broke the door off its hinges and let it fall to the ground. Inside the room, I spotted a man frozen in shock at my entrance. He was midway in pulling off his trousers, giving me more than enough time for my eyes to flick to a young woman tied to her bed. My anger increased as my eyes flicked back to the disrobing man. "Time's up." I growled out as three of my tails darted over my head and struck the man in his chest, ruining the silken shirt he once wore.

It was probably a noble that I just killed, not that I gave a shit.

"Free her, heal her, and get her to the settlement. Then come back when you're finished." I ordered as I left the room. My copy wordlessly obeyed my orders as I walked out of the room and made my way to the next.

In the second room of the hallway, I broke down the door and stepped into the room. There, I spotted a young boy sitting on the bed in fetal position with pure terror in his eyes. He couldn't be older than twelve, so I tried to put on a friendly façade for the kid. "Don't worry, you're going to be freed. Just wait right here and my twin will take you to someplace safer."

Just as I was to leave this room for the next one, I stopped when I heard the boy speak to me, "I-I prayed t-to the gods for h-help. A-Are y-you an angel?"

"No," I answered, "I'm something much more." Then, I left the room and continued onto the next one. Just like before, I broke down the door, killed a woman in the room that was about to force herself onto a girl, then told her to wait for my copy. This process was repeated over and over again. Sometimes it was a man, sometimes a woman that I killed. They all shared the same wealthy status which the first man I killed exuded. A high-class sex den, yet even with rich clientele attending this establishment, they were nothing more than animals.

And rabid animals should be put down.

* * *

**[Lubelina]**

On the top floor of the sex-den called the Golden Queen, a name given to the establishment in mockery of princess Renner and her title of 'The Golden Princess', was a section of the building that was kept off-limits to the general public. To ensure this, a heavy oaken door stood at the top of the stairs leading up to this section of the building. Heavy enchanted steel locks reinforced this door against most curious visitors of the establishment.

Behind this door, two large men clad in steel platemail acted as the second line of defense with the orders to capture or kill any who broke past the door. These two men, while not the smartest, were monstrously strong with a knack for sadism. On most days when they were unable to act upon these desires against intruders, they'd instead take their pent up urges out on the sex slaves below them.

Regardless, past these two was an elegantly carved desk that was stacked with sacks of coins and paperwork. This paperwork typically consisted of reports from multiple other brothels across the kingdom about the finances, dead or dying workers, and newly acquired workers.

Sitting behind this desk in bored silence was a red-haired woman of androgynous beauty. To add more confusion to her gender was the well-tailored suit she wore that was designed in a masculine style.

Those that knew this woman also knew to never bring up her masculine appearance. Despite the kind smile on her lips, her personality was anything but. She was a complete sadist that enjoyed watching the suffering on her victims' faces, and any that brought up her appearance were likely to be taken away and tortured slowly until they gasped their last painful breath.

Lubelina, an angelic-sounding name for such a monstrous person, was reading through a report on the sex slaves of the Golden Queen that went onto describe that two of the slaves were currently dying of injuries caused by rough clientele while another showed signs of too many venereal diseases to be marketable.

This news disappointed the woman, as she typically preferred to have her own _fun_ with unusable workers until they expired. Yet, she also avoided those riddled by disease in fear that she could become infected herself. Hiring a healer wasn't that difficult, especially for a woman of her power, but it did make people talk, and talk had a habit of ruining reputations.

Dipping her quill in ink, Lubelina wrote the word 'Temple' besides the name of the diseased worker. The word was a code phrase which really meant that the worker would be taken out of the building and disposed of somewhere on the streets. No one would ask any questions, and the defective worker would typically die of exposure a few hours to days later.

It helped that since the workers were underfed, they'd quickly starve, and the damages that they'd accrued over their short career would make them too weak to save themselves. After that, someone would eventually find another dead whore in the streets and they'd be sent to the temple in Re-Estize to be buried without any questions asked.

Next to the names of the dying workers, the word 'Basement' was written. That meant that the dying workers would be sent to Lubelina's personal dungeon in the basement of the building where she could have some private fun with the workers until they died. They'd be kept alive long enough for replacement workers to be delivered, then Lubelina would deliver as many agonies as she could while the new workers would watch.

It helped to break the spirits of the replacement workers, as well as show them what would happen if they tried to escape or cause problems.

Pulling out another sheet of paper from the stack, Lubelina wrote out a requisition order for three more orders of 'livestock' at her Re-Estize establishment. She addressed it to her associate, Cocco Doll, before folding the letter up and sealing it with wax stamped with a symbol of a hand with three fingers. She set the letter aside for later delivery before pulling out another budget report.

Just as she was about to read through it, a rapid and desperate banging was heard coming from the door. Annoyed at the unorthodox and disrespectful attempt to open the door, Lubelina nodded at one of her guards to open the door. She'd first hear what pitiful excuse the knocker of the door had. If it wasn't satisfactory, they'd be spending time in Lubelina's personal dungeon.

The guard swiftly moved to the door and pulled a small metal shutter open to see who it was. Frantic speaking could be heard until it was silenced by the shutter closing. Then, the steel locks were unlocked and the door was pulled open to reveal a large, heavyset man with tan skin and brown hair.

The man was swiftly yanked into the room by the guard and stumbled forwards until he fell onto his hands and knees. At the same time, the door was rapidly shut and locked with practiced ease.

"Tell me, what reason caused you to bang on my door like an oafish ogre?" The woman asked with a sickly-sweet smile on her face. The friendliness of the expression was completely mitigated by her tone of voice and the venomous glare of her emerald eyes.

"I-I'm very sorry, Ma'am. It's just, there's something downstairs that's killing anyone they see. We tried to stop it, yet it just killed any guard that came near! Even worse was when I saw clients and staff trying to flee through the exits. It was like the doors and windows were just painted onto the walls!" The man stated in abject terror.

For a normal person, the idea of a killer running around murdering clients and staff should've made anyone terrified. Yet, all Lubelina felt was rage at the idea that someone was messing with her business and losing her money. Some idiot, for only an idiot would dare attack her business, a business owned and run by one of the Eight Fingers, and believe that they could ever make it out of this place alive and in one piece!

An attack on one of her businesses was an attack on herself. And Lubelina never let anyone get away with attacking her without ending up in her dungeon or in a grave. Whoever the fuck had the balls to do so would suffer for the rest of their short and very miserable life once she caught them.

"Shut your whoreson mouth up and stop sniveling like a dog, Jorge." Lubelina commanded with malice in her voice. The fear that Jorge felt for Lubelina outweighed the fear of the carnage that he saw downstairs, and it caused the man to become utterly silent.

"Now, explain in as much detail as you possibly can, who the fuck is attacking my brothel? How many of them there are? And what their capabilities are?" Even as Lubelina said this, she had started pulling out her rapier from under her desk and stood from her chair.

"I could only see one person, Ma'am. I don't know who or what she is, but she ain't human! She's a blonde woman whose got these animal parts, tails and ears." Jorge mimed out the extremities that he named, "Her tails were drenched in blood, and I saw why when she impaled Lucas on three of them. None of us could touch her, so I ran while Murmer and Dan fought her in order to tell you."

"Fuck." The red-head remarked as she opened a drawer of her desk so that she could pull out a dusty scroll. Said scroll was enchanted with a **[Write Message]** spell. The version she had required a user to write down the message for a recipient, unlike the other kind of **[Message]** scroll which only required voice. The reason for using the first kind of scroll was because the second was very expensive. This meant that the scroll was for emergency use only.

Opening up the scroll, Lubelina hastily wrote down a message for assistance. Then, she activated the item and watched as it burned up in blue fire. Following this, she pulled out another scroll from her drawer and stored it into her pocket. Even with the cost of a **[Message]** scroll, Lubelina always liked to have a backup plan.

This scroll was directly meant for her boss, in case the worst came to pass.

When she was finally done, the red-head looked back at her subordinates and spoke, "Horace and Chek, take Jorge with you to deal with our guest. Bring her to me alive, if possible, else bring me back her head." While the two guards showed no signs of their opinion on the order, Jorge immediately went wide-eyed and fearful.

"Please, Ma'am! Don't make me go down there! I'll die if I do!" As he said this, the two armored men approached Jorge on either side and grabbed him by the arms.

"If you do, I'll certainly drink a toast in your honor at the bar. But, stay here, and I'll gut you like a fucking fish and make you watch as I pull your intestines out." Hearing this threat made the large man gulp in fear as the guards dragged Jorge with them to the door. Lubelina followed closely behind them until they reached the door.

One of the guards unlocked the door and swiftly pulled it open. Then, the three men stepped through just as Lubelina shut the door behind them and locked it. Afterwards, she walked back to her desk and pulled open another drawer to reveal a fine bottle of wine and a glass.

Uncorking the bottle, Lubelina took a moment to smell the wine's fragrance before pouring it into the glass. She then leaned against the desk and faced the door while her rapier stayed pointed to the floor, yet her tight grip on the handle of the sword betrayed the calm display that she conveyed.

What Lubelina truly hated was the waiting. There was nothing but silence and contemplation to keep her company. Yet, as time went on, Lubelina started to grow discontent at the lack of any form of progress. Even if her guards and Jorge had died fighting against this intruder, the reinforcements from the Eight Fingers should've arrived to finish the job.

The red-head shouldn't have been waiting in her office, like some common whore, for so long. Yet, here she was, sword in hand, and a quarter finished bottle of wine that was pouring another glass. Just as she was about to raise the glass to her lips, the loud sound of splintering wood and crumpling metal screeched from her office door.

Lubelina's eyes widened in surprise as her gaze fixated onto her door, and more specifically, the crimson spear-like object that had penetrated through the door. As her eyes focused, she took note that the object was covered in many sharply bristled tufts of fur that dripped blood onto the wooden floor.

Then, in a serpentine fashion, the limb was pulled out of the door. The red-head was so focused upon how someone could punch a hole into the door so easily that her grip on the wineglass loosened enough to cause the object to smash into the floor, spilling crimson upon the floor.

In a single moment, the woman brandished her sword at the ready as another limb stabbed through the door, punching a second hole into the door. The sword in Lubelina's hand wavered from witnessing the raw strength being displayed.

With her heart pounding, the woman pulled out her **[Message]** scroll and whispered, "The intruder made it past my defenses. If I don't message you again, then assume that the Golden Queen is compromised. Secondly, where the fuck are my reinforcements?" With her message concluded, she watched as the scroll was consumed in blue flames.

This shouldn't be happening.

Another boom roared from the doorway as a third hole was made.

Some random bitch shouldn't have been able to make it past all of the defenses of the Eight Fingers' third in command.

**BOOM!**

The reinforcements should've arrived to help, yet they were either not here yet or they had all been killed. No.

**BOOM!**

She was one of the head of the Eight Fingers! This was her property! Anyone that fucked with her property was killed on principle. Lubelina would make damn sure that when she broke this bitch, they wouldn't die by the blade of her rapier. They would be kept alive in a cell where Lubelina would take absolute pleasure from breaking the intruder until they begged for death.

**BOOM!**

With one final smash, the door exploded into a cloud of smoke, sawdust, wood, and metal. Yet, even with the dust obscuring her view, Lubelina saw a pair of bestial eyes that glowed with the color of molten gold.

"_**You must be the one in charge.**_" A sultry voice stated with a barely contained growl. The voice echoed with power, and each word chipped away at Lubelina's shrinking confidence.

"I am the owner of the establishment. One that you have thoroughly trashed and ruined." The red-head barked back in an effort to maintain some semblance of control, even if only in conversation. "Because of you, my business-"

"_**Your business is slavery. Your workers are slaves. You are a thief. Yet, instead of trinkets, you steal people's time and lives.**_" The voice interrupted while the glowing eyes narrowed. Lubelina couldn't help but grit her teeth in absolute rage at the thought of someone interrupting her.

It was then, that the sound of heels clicking against the wooden floor began to unnaturally echo around the room while the glowing eyes grew closer and the outline of a body could be seen through the smoke. Finally, Lubelina was able to fully see the intruder.

The woman was unnaturally beautiful, yet that human beauty couldn't grab one's attention in the same way that the golden-furred ears atop her head could. And neither of both traits were as distracting as the nine tails that snaked behind her. Each one of those nine tails was the same golden color as her hair and ears, yet the gold turned to crimson due to a quarter of their length being drenched in blood.

Jorge was right, this woman wasn't human. She wasn't an elf; she wasn't any type of race that Lubelina could put a name to. Yet, at the same time, the exoticness of this woman intrigued her. There had always been clients of her brothels that had a taste for 'unique' services.

The bitch before her could easily attract a lot of business with just her human features. But, those animal features of hers would be worth their weight in gold. A single night with her could sell for piles of gold!

A dark smile grew upon Lubelina's face at the thoughts of humiliation and torture that she could put this bitch through.

"Bitch, after I'm done thrashing you, I'll make sure that you won't die. Instead, you'll be broken before I work that ass of yours off in one of my brothels for the rest of your miserable life!" She finished with a maniacal giggle. This quickly stopped as the sounds of monstrous laughter came from every corner of the room.

Lubelina began looking around for other potential opponents, yet her attention was drawn back to the woman when she spoke once again, as that same monstrous laughter continued to grow in decibel and intensity. "_**You truly are filled with nothing but greed. Even now, when you should be praying to anyone of your numerous gods, you instead think of money and suffering. Even worse, YOU DARE THREATEN ENSLAVEMENT TO A DEMIGODDESS!**_" As the blonde roared out the last few words, her voice sounded as if a legion spoke with her. It was loud enough to drown out the horrid laughter that had started to give her a horrific headache.

"_**I offer you a chance to pray to your gods, but I'll let you know now, I'm not listening.**_" As she said this, she slowly started to walk towards Lubelina, while the horrid laughter was now screaming into her ears.

It was enough that the red-head clapped her hands over her ears to at least muffle the sound, yet the attempt was in vain. Her head felt like iron hammers were being smashed upon it, and soon enough, she could only scream for the noise to stop as she fell to her knees as her rapier fell from her grasp and clanged against the floor.

But it never did. The noise was ceaseless while every conscious moment was absolute agony. For one of the few times in her life, the woman prayed to any of the Four Great Gods and any of the minor deities beneath them to help her. She begged until her voice was hoarse and ragged for the pain to stop. When it didn't, she offered up anything if the pain in her head was at least lessened to some degree.

"_**Are you truly willing to do anything for the pain to lessen?**_" The voice of the woman clearly spoke out through the cacophony of laughter. She repeatedly nodded her head in agreement at the lifeline being offered to her. "_**Then, under the agreement of **_**[Geas] **_**do you swear to do whatever I ask of you with the failure of meeting these terms being death?**_"

"YES ANYTHING! JUST MAKE IT STOP!" Lubelina answered in tears. Immediately upon saying this, the laughter banging through her head became quieter until only the soft sound of inhuman giggling could be heard. It was like a fly was buzzing in her ear, yet it was infinitely better than the noise before.

When Lubelina finally opened her eyes, she found herself staring at the black high-heeled boots of the woman before her. She didn't dare raise her eyes any further, if only to spare herself the mistake of accidentally angering the woman before her and bringing back that dreaded laughter.

"_**Understand this; from this day forth, your life as you knew it is over. You will be taken back to my settlement. You will tell me everything about your businesses and how many other brothels you run with slavery. You will explain everything about where you got the slaves.**_" After saying this, Lubelina heard the woman, no the _demigoddess_, she said demigoddess, and the red-head didn't want to incur her further wrath, snap her fingers, causing an ember to drop to the floor in front of her.

The moment the ember touched the wood, a small blaze started to burn up and was quickly growing into something more.

She didn't get the chance to see anymore of her property burn as the world around her warped until she found herself in a dark stony room with a set of metal bars cutting her off from the hallway the room was connected to. The only light she received was from some torches outside her cell and a barred window that was too high to see anything except for the darkening sky above.

The room she was in had only two things in it; a cot with a blanket, and a wooden bucket placed in the corner. Then, a voice echoed around her cell, "_**I am Kashia Blanc, your eternal jailor. And this will be your new home for the foreseeable future.**_" Once that was said, the cell was quiet once more, with only the faint sounds of inhuman giggling being heard.

After everything that had happened, Lubelina laid down upon the cot and curled into a fetal position before she started sobbing.

* * *

**[Kashia]**

After everything that had happened, I teleported to the shore of my settlement's lake for two reasons. The first was because I wanted to wash the blood off my tails while the second…It was so that I could be alone to think.

So, there I found myself standing on the lake's shore while my tails snaked through the water to wash the blood off. I could see that my efforts were working since clouds of crimson were blooming in the water. Yet, even if my tails were fully cleaned, it still couldn't shake off all the thoughts running through my mind.

I had killed so many people in that sex den, and it completely terrified me. I know that this wasn't the first time that I've killed something in this world before. The corpses of the goblins and trolls on that farm could attest to it. Yet, there had always been this feeling of distance when I'd done so.

It was in a similar vein of when a farmer was killing a chicken for food. That feeling in killing those demi-humans was normal, at least what I believed is normal, mainly because I was so used to killing monsters in YGGDRASIL and any of the other games that I'd played over the years.

Yet, when I killed those humans in that sex den, I felt nothing close to that feeling. Nothing for killing my formerly-fellow man. Actually, I felt great about the massacre I performed. It was like the way a cat felt when they toyed with their food until finally killing it.

This terrified me…

If I had never ended up in this new world, and in this new body, would I still be feeling so joyous at all the monstrous humans that I killed or would I be filled with guilt? I didn't have an answer for this question and I doubted if I ever would.

The sound of footsteps approaching caught my attention and quickly brought me away from the darker thoughts plaguing my mind. Looking over my shoulder, I saw my copy calmly approaching me.

"Hey, boss. Thought I'd find you out here."

"I believe that the fact that you're my copy gives you a bit of an advantage in finding me." I retorted back, "Anything that you need to report?"

My copy came over to my side and stood next to me before answering. "I've treated all the physical ailments of the people we saved. Can't say the same about psychological problems." My copy grimaced as she said that. I couldn't blame her, the things that those people must have suffered belonged in the darkest nightmares.

I couldn't help but consider if it would be moral to erase their memories of all the trauma that they must've suffered? Perhaps I could give them a choice on the issue and sort it out that way. In addition, there was also the issue on what to do with all of these newcomers. No doubt, most, if not all, of the rescued would like to return to their original homes.

"How many of them are still awake?"

"Just a few. About four or five. The rest were either completely exhausted or so agitated that I had to use a **[Sleep]** spell to calm them down. I offered those awake some food and water, God knows that they need more meat on their bones with how skinny all of them were."

At the very least, the rescued would hopefully be eating. I'd seen my fair share of people who starved to death back home. It's funny, in a way, that our bodies need sustenance to survive, and when they can't get any food, then that very same body will internally eat itself to death.

Abandoning my thoughts of morbid humor, I made a quick command, "Make sure that a lot of food and water continues going to our guests. Even if their wounds have been treated, that still won't prevent them from dying of starvation. After that, try and talk to anyone that is conscious so that we can find out where they belong."

"Understood. I'll see what I can uncover, but there is always the chance that we might be unable to find their homes or that they might have no place to return to. What then?" I couldn't help but smirk when my copy asked this.

"We take in everyone, regardless of race, creed, and background. If they wish to leave, then we'll help them as much as we can. Else, we give them a home. For a copy of me, you aren't predicting my thought process like I believed you could?" I teased.

"Not really, I just wanted to hear you say it. After all, we both seem to love hearing the sound of our own voices." She answered in kind before adding, "Really has to make you wonder if we're secretly narcissists who just never noticed it?"

I could only shrug in reply. She had a point.

Looking into the water, the golden color of my fur told me that my tails were cleaned. I quickly raised them from the water and watched water rain down from them. "I'll need to get back to Ninya and her sister soon enough. I doubt that it's professional for a doctor to leave their patient alone for too long."

"You're a doctor now? Real step up from the paper-pusher that you once were. Mind showing me your diploma?"

"Don't need one. I'm like Jesus except with the power to drop fiery death at will."

My copy rolled her eyes at my pretentious statement. "Yeah, Jesus. The only other difference is the ears, the tails, and the large set of bowling balls on your chest coupled with the opposite genitalia, but I see your point." I giggled at the very true response.

With a snap of my fingers, I cast **[Kitsune Illusion]** and watched as my bestial features disappeared. "I'll come back later tonight to strategize and deal with some tasks that need my direct attention. Try to keep our guests calm while you hold the fort down."

"If that's what you wish, Dr. Blanc. Do you wish for me to also retrieve your sexy doctor costume while I'm at it? I'll dress up as the nurse!" I avoided answering that question so as to not provide my copy anymore ammunition to use against me…or ideas.

Following this, I quickly cast **[Teleport]** and arrived back at my room in the Hero's Respite.

* * *

Arriving in my room, I quickly spotted Tuare sleeping in my bed while Ninya sat in a chair next to her sister. Her attention was intensely focused upon the unconscious form of her sister, so much so, that she didn't even notice me as I walked over to her. The clicking of my heels against the wooden floor didn't even cause her to stir as I eventually got close enough to look over the teen's shoulder.

"I'm back, kiddo." With my announcement, Ninya quickly stopped her silent vigil over her sister and turned to look at me. From the way her eyes were red and irritated, as well as the scent of salt I could smell of her, she'd been crying. I put a hand on her shoulder and looked down into her eyes.

"It's been so long since I started my quest to find Tuare…all these years of hoping…Thank you, for everything." She choked up, then did something that took me by surprise as she got out of her chair and hugged me in a tight embrace, more so than when she hugged me earlier. I slowly wrapped my arms around the girl in return.

"My pleasure, kiddo." I replied before we remained quiet. It took a while, but we eventually separated which let me see Ninya wiping her eyes of any loose tears. I walked away from her and pulled up a chair from my table over to where Ninya was sitting before joining her.

"How's Tuare doing?" I asked as I looked over the sleeping blonde girl. Even after healing the girl with my magic, I still was quite worried about her. She had spent years being used as a slave, and probably, was treated like an animal. That would have immense amounts of psychological effects on a person. The Tuare that was sleeping in my bed right now, might not be the same girl that Ninya had grown up with.

"She's been doing fine for now. Since you've been gone, all she's been doing is sleeping." Ninya answered. Then, she sprung the question that I've been waiting to answer since I came back. "What did you do while you were gone?"

"I'm going to be fully honest with you, Ninya. After I sent you and Tuare back to my room, I killed a lot of people, set all those enslaved free, and burned down the entire building. By the time I left, the place was ablaze with no sign of stopping." I answered the girl, leaving out the gruesome details.

"I'm not judging you for doing that, but why did you do it?"

"Three reasons." I replied before listing, "I was angry at everything that I saw. The people inside that building were monsters that had to be put down so that no one else would suffer such horror at their hands again. And finally, those people knew who Tuare was, name and face. Killing all of them was a way to protect your sister from being hunted by those specific people."

That was to say, I had no idea how far that Eight Fingers organization spanned or if they kept track of all the people that I took. The fire I started would cover up a lot of evidence, but there was always that possibility. None of this would be said to Ninya, I didn't want to cause the girl panic just after she got her sister back, but I would be keeping a close eye on Tuare just in case.

It was pleasing to see that Ninya's posture slumped into a more relaxed state after I said this. To be fully honest, I was worried about how the girl would take my explanation. Instead of seeing fear, I was happy to see acceptance of my actions. In a way, it made me feel less like a monster than what I felt earlier.

"With everything that has happened, I'm unsure about what I should do now. I've been focused on how to find Tuare for so long, yet not that we're together again, I have no clue on what happens next…"

Placing a hand on Ninya's shoulder, I gave the girl a reassuring smile. "Things are going to change now, but that doesn't mean that you'll be going through all of this alone. I'm here for you, so are Peter, Lukrut, and Dyne."

After hearing this, the girl returned a smile back to me. "I have no idea what I'd do without any of you." She then glanced back to the sleeping form of her sister, "Even with how thin she is, there's barely enough room in my apartment to house two people."

"You won't need to worry about searching for a new place." I spoke, "I can take care of that for you." Ninya's head whipped to me and she looked at me with shock.

"Y-You've already done so much for me as it is. I couldn't possibly impose on you any further than I already have-" I silenced her by raising my hand.

"Kiddo, you're my apprentice, and in a sense, my ward. It's my job as your teacher to make sure that you can learn and grow in a suitable environment." Standing up, I aimed my hand at a bare wall on the right of my room and cast the spell **[Mage's Hidden Sanctuary]**. The initial effect of the spell created a new doorway against the wall that was made of marble. A doorknob made of a golden metal was the only imperfection against the rest of the smooth marble door.

This was a very useful spell for high-level magic casters in YGGDRASIL. It could almost be imagined as a player made guild base, except much smaller and with a lot more inherent flaws to it.

For one thing, first time casting of the spell would drain up all of a player's mana, with no exceptions followed by a cast time of ten minutes. Those first two costs were exceptionally dangerous since it left one wide open for any to attack. Because of this, any that actually learned and used this spell would do so in the safety of a group, a base, or far away from any civilization.

Following this, the initial sanctuary that a player would create would literally be an empty cube that was ten by ten by ten meters. The only way to expand this cube was by either paying in experience or gold. Since I didn't have the experience to spare due to how difficult it was to level up initially for me, I had to spend metric tons of gold to get my sanctuary expanded to forty meters.

Then, I had to actually fill up this sanctuary with materials to make it inhabitable. That was many more hours of grinding to collect the materials to fill up my sanctuary. After all that work, I had finally made a nice little base to store my things…

At least until I gained access to a secret place that was much more secure to store my valuables. I still needed to test and see if I still had access to that place as it stored above all my third World Item. It would be a damn shame if I couldn't since that final World Item was probably the most useful out of all the items I had attained.

Back on topic, there were inherent weaknesses to this spell that made it unpopular if you didn't prepare for it. The doorway to the sanctuary was fixed to where you summoned it, and would remain in the summoned location for a month before it could be moved. If you entered the sanctuary through it, then that meant that you could only exit the pocket realm through that same spot. So, if a group of players knew that you were inside, they could just camp the doorway until you finally came out.

Another weakness to this spell was that others could follow you inside the sanctuary, invited or otherwise. So, if a player managed to quickly teleport inside before you closed the door, you'd be pretty fucked. The final weakness to this spell was that anyone could open the door if they were inside the sanctuary. This meant if said player teleported inside your realm and stole items from it, they could run off giggling like an asshole if you didn't protect the exit.

Typically, whenever I casted this spell, I would cast a massive amount of traps around the location before using **[Creation]** to bury myself and the doorway in a hidden underground chamber away from prying eyes.

My reason for casting it in this room without any of said preparations beforehand was simple, the room that Ninya and I are in has already been warded with as many defenses as I thought that I could get away with. Also, from what I've seen for the past few days since arriving here, the typical ability level of beings in this new world were hilariously outclassed by mine.

"Come with me for a few moments." I told Ninya as I uncrossed my legs and stood up from my chair. Ninya, as a dutiful apprentice, followed me to the new doorway. An upside to no longer needing a menu to use my spells was that I didn't need to waste time typing out a name to give Ninya permission to open the door to my sanctuary. Turning the doorknob, I pushed the door of my sanctuary open to reveal the entrance.

Inside, the first sight one would see would be a large garden filled with plants that grew alchemical ingredients. It had taken some time to acquire all the ingredients, but my garden had as many of the ingredients from YGGDRASIL that I could fit.

Unlike most sanctuaries, mine was built from the top downwards. I had eight floors in this realm, the top seven floors were four meters high. The eighth floor was twelve meters high due to the things being produced there needing room.

The garden filled almost the entire floor besides a simple cabin in the center, eight by eight meters, that was made of mahogany. Each side of this building had walls of windows that gave a pleasant view of the garden while a small stone pathway lead to the front door. "Come inside." I then entered the sanctuary and started walking to the cabin.

"What is this?" Ninya asked as she entered.

"It's a pocket dimension that I created as one of my many secret bases. I generally treat it as a place to store stuff in." While walking through the garden, I took note that unlike other times I've come here, this time my nose took in the myriad of fragrances coming from the plants around me.

It was certainly better than smelling the stench of the city.

"If you've been able to conjure a place like this, and I have no idea how you even went about making a place like this, how come you've been living in the Hero's Respite instead of in here?" Ninya pondered as she looked around the sanctuary in wonder.

"I live in the Hero's Respite because it's a physical address that people can find me at. In addition, continuous living inside of this space is risky since I have no knowledge of any events that occur outside of this space." Answering this, I reached the front door of the cabin and opened it before entering.

Inside, on the left of the cabin, an alchemy table sat in a corner with a chest next to it that held all the alchemy supplies that I collected from the garden. Against the wall opposite that, a bookshelf stood with some cushioned chairs surrounding a table in front of it. The rest of the room contained basic amenities like an oven, cabinets, and other odds and ends.

At the back of the cabin, a closed hatch in the floor lead to the rest of the sanctuary.

All in all, there was plenty of room for a few people to live inside comfortably on just the first floor. "You think that this could fit Tuare and you?" I asked as the teen came into the cabin and started looking around in wonder.

"This definitely could," She then looked at me and asked, "are you really letting Tuare and I live here?"

"It would be odd if I showed you this place for no reason except to show off. You and your sister are fully welcome to live in this place. I'm not really using it for anything but to collect dust and junk." I replied and watched the pure joy radiate off Ninya's face.

"Thank you! I don't know how Tuare or I could ever repay you for this. I'll make sure that this place is taken care of!" I simply patted the girl on the head.

"You don't need to repay me. You needed help, and I had the power to do so." With a wave of my hand, I cast **[Create Greater Item]** to make a set of beds that took up a corner of the room. "I'll give you a full tour of this place after Tuare wakes up. If you wish, you can stay in my room or in this realm tonight."

"I'll stay in your room tonight, if that's fine with you? I want to be there when Tuare finally wakes up." I gave her a nod of acceptance.

"Good, because that allows me to do some tasks tonight without worrying about leaving your sister alone." When I said this, Ninya gave me a question look. "I need to take care of some things that have come up. I'll be back before you even wake up in the morning." I answered.

"Is it because of Tuare and I?" I shook my head. While she was partially right that finding Tuare was what led me to find all those documents in that brothel, none of this was Ninya or Tuare's fault. Regardless, I kept the rest of this information from Ninya since I didn't want her to worry. The only one she needed to worry about was her sister.

"Now, let's go get some food. You're probably starving after everything that has happened today, I know that I am."

* * *

About an hour later, I finally left the Hero's Respite and teleported back to the settlement, and more specifically, to the small cabin that looked over the rest of the lake. When I entered the building, I spotted my copy waiting for me in a chair next to a table that had multiple documents spread over it.

"Hey, boss! I hope you didn't mind, but I started to already organize all the documents that you collected from the sex den." She stated, much to my thankful relief that it wouldn't be such a tedious task for me. I quickly grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the table before joining her in looking over all the documentation.

"How have our guests been since I've been gone?" I asked her as I looked over some documents that were related to finances.

"Around half of them woke up some time after you left and ate the food that was provided. I was highly careful on who entered or exited the hospital since I was unsure on how they felt about our other non-human inhabitants. I was able to get responses from seven of our guests about who they were and where they came from." She then gave me a sly grin.

"In addition, a young boy seemed to have quite the hero worship of you when he saw me. He's of the belief that you are a divine or magical being from a fairy tale sent to rescue everyone. You wouldn't have happened to have done or said anything to them to influence this?"

Recalling the people that I saved, the memory of that one boy who thought that I was an angel came to mind. "I think I know who you're talking about. A kid I rescued thought I was an angel sent to rescue him, I told him otherwise." I answered.

"Sounds like fun. I'm just letting you know ahead of time so that you don't end up surprised if a religion based around you pops up with people worshipping the very earth you tread." I tried to shrug off my copy's remark, but it did make me wonder what my future would look like. When interacting with the Green Claw tribe, I hadn't exactly dissuaded them from their belief that I was a deity. And, my interactions with the inhabitants of the settlement weren't pushing against that idea.

"If they want to worship me, they can. I won't stop anyone here from doing what they want as long as it isn't harming anyone else." I answered before focusing my attention back onto the documents. The first one that I picked up and began reading was a letter from someone called Cocco Doll…

What kind of stupid name was that? Had to be a code name or something. Either way, from the contents of the letter, it seemed that my prisoner was getting more slaves transferred to her establishments. Though, the letter didn't refer to the people as slaves, instead they were called cattle. If I didn't know of what they were actually doing, I might easily have assumed that this wasn't code for shipping animals instead of people.

Dealing with this criminal organization is going to be horribly tedious, I can already tell. Back in my world, criminal organizations in my country had become so deeply engrained into everyday life that it was like kicking an anthill. Bring down one group and another would take its place. From the amount of documentation that was just on this table, it was easy enough to tell that this group was large.

There was only one way to deal with a large operation like this, and that would entail destroying all methods of production before they had anytime to react. It was similar to the time that I had to fight against a guild that I managed to piss off. Specifically, the guild who I stole a World Item from.

They were beyond pissed when I lured the holder of the item into a trap by pretending to have run out of mana. Since **[Daughter of Inari]** was such a rare class, no one really knew about it or its abilities. And, considering that there was normally no mana regeneration in the game, I exploited the hell out of everyone's lack of knowledge.

So, when I fought the holder of the World Item, I pretended to run out of mana mid-battle, letting my opponent become overconfident. When it looked like I had no true options for escape, they tried to kill me with an overcharged spell.

Really freaked that guy out when, their supposedly manaless opponent, suddenly used **[Counterspell]** to cause their spell to whiff. I executed him quickly afterwards and gained the World Item **[Tome of the First Mage]**. After that, their entire guild declared all out war on me. What I found very amusing about that supposed war was the fact that they expected me to fight openly as one person against their many.

Instead, I fought tactically.

If they were away from any of their production sources, I'd nuke them into oblivion. Anyone that went off on their own would be coming back to their guild with a lighter inventory and fewer levels. It didn't take long for me to make a guild of thirty-two people become paranoid wrecks that were too afraid to leave their base for fear that I'd murder them.

After an entire month of this, their guild finally surrendered since they had lost too many resources to remain a competitive faction. After the news of my victory came out, people learned to not fuck with me. Sadly, I gained a reputation that made me more well-known, as well as a more tempting target to kill.

Either way, I'll need to probe my prisoner for more information on this Cocco Doll and his slave operation. Knowing what I need to deal with will be extremely helpful in taking these assholes down. But that'll be a job to do later. Right now, I have to read through all these pages first if I'm to get an overall layout of these people.

"By the way, how was Zaryusu doing today? Is he adjusting well?" I asked.

"Tall, dark, and scaly was acclimating to the village very well. He was fairly interested in meeting and talking to the inhabitants and creating initial plans for a new fishery here. Though, he did come by to the building where we're housing our guests. I had him help deliver food." I gave my copy a raised eyebrow.

"It's rude to make a diplomatic visitor work when it wasn't his problem in the first place." I stated before going back to reading.

"He wasn't opposed to helping out. And besides, if we're to be welcoming more citizens to our village, it's only appropriate to include them in our activities. Try to relax a bit. You shouldn't stay so stressed all the time or you'll get wrinkles." I couldn't help but snort at my copy's remark.

"I highly doubt that my race is even able to get wrinkles. Don't the stories usually say that kitsune are immortal? And even if that's not the case, I'm a demigoddess which I'm pretty sure means that I'll not be getting old anytime soon, especially with how I could interpret the way my passives might work in a real setting."

My copy mockingly clapped in reply. "You know, you're just insufferable with how haughty you can be. You can probably fix that in your bedroom in an hour by yourself or with someone else. I'll let you know, we have plenty of stamina and a hair trig-"

"Can we please not talk about that right now?" I replied with a massive blush on my face, causing my copy to grin in excited interest. I'm sad to say that I've been tempted to explore this body, but I've been nervous about doing so.

"Why not? We're the same person, so who better to talk about your private thoughts with? I know for a fact that you were checking out a few of the males at the guild earlier today. Technically, you're a virgin in this body, so why not lose it already?"

"Because, it's already weird enough that I'm attracted to guys when I wasn't before! Having sex as another gender is the furthest thing in my mind right now!" I said, probably a little loud for this cabin. My copy rolled her eyes at my display, which made me wonder, was she a different person or just me without any of my inhibitions?

Following my outburst, my copy got out of her chair and walked over to me before standing next to me. "That's enough of that, boss. I'll not let you work while you're like this, so find a room and work off all that pent-up energy of yours or go to bed. I'll take care of everything here."

Looking at her from the corner of my eyes, I couldn't help but give her a glare. I'm supposed to be the one in charge here, so why was my copy trying to order me around? "What's to stop me from unsummoning you and going back to work?" I asked.

"Well, the fact that there's a lot of things that I know right now about events that have occurred in the settlement which you don't. Along with that, I could continue remaining insubordinate if you were to summon me again." Fuck, she had me there…

"Aren't you supposed to follow my orders instead of give them?" I asked as I leaned back into my chair and looked up at the busty clone standing over me.

"Typically, I do follow your orders, but I also have enough freewill to make my own decisions when they are required, including ignoring orders if I feel that they are going against your well-being. Now, go to your room, and take it easy. I'll see you after you're either done or in the morning." With a sigh, I flipped my copy the bird and got out of my chair.

"I hate you so much right now." I said before going to my cabin's bedroom. Before I actually entered the room, I leaned my head back through the doorway and added, "Make sure to take notes of anything important."

My copy simply waved me off with a laugh and answered, "Way ahead of you. See you later, boss." What a bitch…

With a sigh, I entered into the bedroom of my cabin and shut the door behind me. Then, I walked over to my bed and laid down on it, just looking at the ceiling.

* * *

**[The Copy]**

Suffice to say, I think I'm relatively decent at talking myself into doing things. Now, normally I'm all for letting Kashia the Boss order me around, it's part of my purpose after all. Gotta take care of the original. Part of this was due to the way that she was so snappy with me. Typically, she takes my jabs with ease, yet this wasn't so today.

It was easy enough to tell when I got summoned by the Boss earlier today that she was a bit off. Even if she does well in hiding it, the fact that she cannot return home along with being in a body that she wasn't born with was getting to her. The horrors she saw in that brothel today along with the extermination that she performed of those monstrous humans didn't help matters.

Even now, she still wasn't able to fully accept her new body and mind which is causing her immense distress. I am probably the only one in this world that understands how she's feeling right now, yet even so, it was incredibly easy to accept my mind and form.

In part, being a temporary clone came with the benefit of being extremely comfortable in accepting my situation. When one really thinks about it, my situation would give any normal person an existential crisis. But, oddly enough, I felt strangely fulfilled with my life. Quite possibly an after effect of the magic used to create me.

But, that is a debate for another day. Right now, I needed to read through these documents in order to gather information for the Boss. Following this, I hurried back to reading through everything and jotting down names and places.

This went undisturbed for a few minutes before my ears picked up a strange moaning from the other room. I couldn't help smiling in amusement before I went back to the task at hand. When I'm finished with this, and Kashia didn't come back from her room, I'm totally going to fuck with the Boss in the morning.

I'm wondering, sexy nurse or sexy doctor?


	9. Kashia Blanc's Classes

**Racial Levels**

**Kitsune Sorceress (15)**: Upon gaining their first tail, the Kitsune has taken upon herself the mantle of a magic user. Due to this, the Kitsune Sorceress has increased the effectiveness of their magic at the cost of their physical strength.

The prerequisites to attain this Race require the Kitsune to have one level in any magic class.

**Nine Tailed Kitsune (10)**: After attaining their ninth tail, the Kitsune's mana storage, magic attack, and magic defense receives an immense boost as well as an upgraded version of their bestial form. The normal loss of tails because of level loss, as well the nine bosses required to ascend past every ten levels is nullified. The downside of this ascension is your shift from the demi-human status to that of a heteromorph in either form.

The prerequisites to attain this Race require the Kitsune to have attained level 100.

**Kitsune Archmage (10)**: After ascending to their ninth tail and delving deep into knowledge of sorcery, the Kitsune has gained access to immense power. The Kitsune gains a boost of mana storage, magic attack, and magic defense as well as the **[Magic Penetration]** passive. Equipment and spells that could completely nullify magic spells can now only do so with half as much efficiency as before. The negative aspects of this Race mean that physical attacks have a greater effect upon you if not wearing proper protective equipment.

The prerequisites to attain this Race require the Kitsune to have Kitsune Sorceress (15), Nine Tailed Kitsune (10), and a spell from all 11 tiers of magic.

**Daughter of Inari (5)**: Prodigal daughter, you have proven yourself worthy of your parentage. Your accomplishments made during your time in YGGDRASIL have given you the status of a demigod. Like previous racial perks, the Kitsune gains the usual buffs as well as the passive **[Ichor of the Divine]** which regenerates a percentage of mana whenever the Kitsune is not casting spells or affected by one of their own spells. This ascension to demi-goddess status gives you the passive **[Inari's Blessing]**. Once a month, you will resurrect after death without any drawback.

Considered to be one of the hardest Races to obtain, the Kitsune must have Nine Tailed Kitsune (10), Kitsune Archmage (10), obtained a World Item, and defeated a divine boss from each of the nine realms.

**Class Levels**

**Wizard (15) **

**Alchemist (15)**

**Sorceress (15)**

**Chosen of Freyja (5)**: Due to deeds accomplished and having a female gendered character, you have attained favor with the goddess Freyja. From this, you gain the benefits of **[Holy Resistance] [Unholy Resistance]** passives. Besides this, you also gain the skills [**Healing Touch]** which increases the ability of healing spells and **[Sex Appeal]** which increases damage given by you to members of the opposite sex as well as decreases damage taken from them.

**World Disaster (5)**: Given after killing another player who previously held this class. Your magic attacks become devastating spells for any who dare challenge you. Sadly, there are two downsides to this great power. Your magic attacks will always be more destructive than you wish, and the mana cost of the spells in this class are quite steep. Your greatest skill is **[Grand Catastrophe]**; a spell whose damage potential is almost unmatched by all others. With this great power is the curse of conflict, any person that kills you will gain this class as their reward while you will lose it.

**Chosen of Loki (5)**: When one has managed to best Loki in a fight using illusions, trickery, and guile without taking damage from him, he has the chance to reward those who have done so, especially if one has stolen a World Item from another player. Because of this, Loki has given the benefits of **[Loki's Teachings]** which allows illusions spells to damage if they couldn't before, have no casting cost, and be cast instantly. Being the God of Mischief, Loki gives the skill **[Loki's Call]** which can be used once a day and will have a chance to summon either Hel, Jormungandr, Fenrir, Sleipnir, Loki himself, or Ratatoskr. You never know what you may get, but it will always be spectacular.

**Kitsune Racial Traits****:**  
[Illusion Immunity]  
[Kitsune Ascension]  
[Greater Senses]  
[Greater Agility]  
[Greater Magic]  
[Tails of Iron]  
[Natural Bodily Weapons: Claws, Tails, Teeth]  
[Increased Charisma]  
[Superior Shapeshifter]  
[Bestial Form]  
[Ascension Loss]

**Kitsune Sorceress Racial Traits:**  
[Mystical Enhancement I]  
[Physical Weakness I]  
[Magical Tail Conduits I]

**Nine Tailed Kitsune Racial Traits:**  
[Mystical Enhancement II]  
[Heteromorph Shifted]  
[Tails of Steel]  
[Ascension Loss Prevention]  
[Magical Tail Conduits II]  
[Beastial Form Enhancement]

**Kitsune Archmage Racial Traits:**

[Magic Penetration]  
[Mystical Enhancement III]  
[Physical Weakness II]  
[Magical Tail Conduits III]  
[Magic Spell Cost Reduction]  
[Extended Magic Effects]  
[Spell Range Increase]

**Daughter of Inari Racial Traits:**  
[Magic Penetration II]  
[Tails of Adamantine]  
[Magical Tail Conduits IV]  
[Ichor of the Divine]  
[Inari's Blessing]  
[Divine Bestial Form]  
[Mystical Enhancement IV]  
[Divine Spells]  
[Instant Death Immunity]  
[Disease Immunity]  
[Poison Immunity]  
[Time Immunity]


	10. Chapter 9

**Vulpine Spanner in the Works**

**Chapter 9: New Tenants, Unexpected Roommates, and a Fox-Based Moving Company**

**Day 6:**

**[Kashia]**

Waking up after a well-deserved rest, I yawned and stretched my arms, legs, and tails in bed until I felt a few pops. It turns out that my copy was correct in her observations of my body, much to my ever-growing embarrassment since I definitely wasn't quiet last night. She was most certainly going to rag on me for that, so I'd need to mentally prepare for the taunting the moment I stepped out of my room.

Either way, I couldn't sit around in bed all day since I had a lot of things to do. First, I needed to talk to my guests and get them sorted out. Following this, I'd meet back up with Ninya and check her sister's condition. That would very likely lead to the next task which would be to talk with the rest of the Swords of Darkness. They'd need to understand everything that was going on with rescuing Tuare, even if Ninya was extremely hesitant to talk about it.

Following that, I'd have to look over all the information that my copy had summarized for me and create a plan of attack. I couldn't help but sigh at another long and busy day ahead of me. Yet, just as I was about to move out of my bed, I noticed that I was wearing clothing under these bedsheets. That was extremely odd since I remember taking off my clothes before going to bed last night.

Ripping the sheets off my body, I glared at the new articles that I was wearing which, I knew for a fact, I'd never seen or put on before. For some reason, I was wearing a very short white dress with a red medical cross being emblazoned on my chest. There were matching white high-heeled boots that went up to my thighs. Moving my ears a bit, I quickly noticed that there was a cap on my head, which I could already guess what the design was.

Standing up out of my bed, my mood soured immediately at how this dress was so short that I'd flash someone the moment I bent in one direction or another. Quickly, I opened up my storage space to grab my normal clothes until I noticed that they weren't where they should normally be.

"Motherfucker." I muttered as I marched out the door of my room and into the central room of the cabin where I found my copy waiting in a chair with an amused smirk on her mouth.

"Morning, Dr. Kashia! Did you have a pleasant rest?" My copy greeted with a laugh.

"Where are my clothes!? I look like an extremely slutty nurse in the start of a porno." I demanded as I marched over to the chuckling prankster.

"Actually, that would be the doctor uniform. The nurse uniform uses a miniskirt and bikini top. Still, I thought it would be appropriate for you to wear today since you were going to visit our patients today." She answered with an infuriatingly mocking tone. My only solace from that answer was that I hadn't woken up wearing the nurse's uniform and that no one else besides us could see me right now.

Crossing my arms, I simply looked at her with growing levels of impatience. "I'm not going outside wearing this. Now, where are my actual clothes?" With a sigh, my copy snapped her fingers which caused my clothes to appear on the table.

"Spoil sport." She remarked. I didn't give her a reply as I unequipped the 'doctor's uniform', which more like something a stripper would wear, and reequipped my regular gear before joining my copy at the table. Sadly enough, I couldn't force myself to part with the doctor's uniform and instead just stored it away in my storage space.

"I hate you so much right now." I began.

"And yet, you took my advice last night. I could hear you for a long time before you finally called it a night. You certainly had a lot of fun." I rolled my eyes at the remark and waited for her to continue. "Anyways, you probably want to hear of my accomplishments last night, and let me tell you, I accomplished a lot." She said before pulling out a small stack of parchment that she slid over to me on the table.

"Great. I'll take a look at this later today when I have more time. Until then, I need to meet our guests and get them sorted out. Anything that I should be aware of before I get there?" I asked while leaning back in my chair. My copy waved her hand and casted a quick illusion spell that created a group of five people.

"The first one with dark hair is called Sharyl Hunter." The person my copy pointed out was around 5'8" with long dark hair and blue eyes. She appeared to be in her early 20's, if not slightly younger. "She was captured a few months before we found her from her home in E-Pespel. She used to be a butcher while her husband was a hunter. Sadly, she only has her husband as the rest of her family died to plague or war and she wishes to return back to her home."

"Easy enough. I'll have her teleported back to her home with a sack of coins. I'll also give her an item to alert me in case she is attacked by the slavers again." I noted for later before giving my copy the signal to continue.

"The next one is a half-elf named Poppelia, though she goes by Poppy." The second illusion was a slender teenage girl of 5'4" with odd mint-green hair that obscured her eyes and a pair of pointed ears that slightly stuck out from her hair. "This girl was captured and enslaved at a young age by the Slane Theocracy. Eventually, she was sold to the organization, Eight Fingers, before arriving at the brothel. Her family is unknown as Poppy was captured early enough to be unable to recall their names or faces. Currently, she is unsure of what she wishes to do since this is probably one of the few times in her life that she's ever had a choice for herself."

I couldn't help but feel a sad sympathy for the girl. Living as a slave for most of one's life definitely hurt her psychological development, and certainly ruined her sense of self and freewill. She was going to need a lot of help to readjust to life now. "I won't rush her decision. She'll be allowed to stay here as long as she needs. Though, I will need to find someone that can stay with her to help her psychological development. Anyone that you believe could help with that?"

"I've got an idea. Trabgo is smart enough, and he isn't as burdened by chores like Maup is. He also tends to act as a secondary leader to the other goblins whenever Maup is occupied. Aside from him, another one of our new potential residents could take up the task." I nodded at the answer. While I'd like to have her mentored by Zaryusu, the lizardman was only a guest here, so there was no knowing how long he'd stay, and I couldn't force Zaryusu to accept a task like that when he already was busy with learning and interacting with the village.

"Continuing on, the next one is a young boy named Aaron." The illusionary figure was that of the boy I rescued at the start of my raid on the brothel. He had shaggy hair the color of rust, and green eyes. The kid stood at a short 5'1" with barely any fat or muscle on his body. "The kid was the child of merchants that were killed by bandits. Those same bandits then captured and sold him to slavers. From the way his injuries weren't as severe as the others, I'd reckon that he'd only been in the brothel for a few weeks. He doesn't have a home, so he wants to stay here."

Another sad tale that I doubted would be the last one I heard today. "Any idea on who he should get paired with?" As this was a child, I didn't have any idea on which villager here could take care and raise a human kid. My copy and I had too many things to do right now to raise a child full-time, and I wasn't confident in how well the others in the village could deal with the task.

"Actually, I have an answer for that." My copy then pointed to the next illusionary image of an older woman with…purple hair? Odd color, especially since they didn't seem inhuman in any way. She looked mature, possibly late 30's early 40's at a tall 5'10". I couldn't help but feel slightly jealous at how she was so much taller than me.

"The woman here is Layla, a former midwife and nursemaid of her village that bordered the mountains south of E-Pespel. She was sold by her village as an offering when raiders came. They took her and some of the village's food before leaving. Afterwards, she was used by them until sold to the brothel. She has absolutely no wish to return to the village that betrayed her, but she is willing to stay here since she's grateful for being rescued." My copy smiled after saying this, and I couldn't help but join her in understanding what she wanted to do.

"Hopefully, she isn't opposed to helping raise a kid that was in a similar situation as her? Even better, a nursemaid would be very useful for taking care of orphans while a midwife could help any pregnant families that came to the village. I'll ask her when I see her." I stated.

"Finally, the last person is an elf ranger that was kidnapped while wandering the capital city. His name is Rush." The final illusion was a tall, thin, blond man standing at 6'1" with an androgynous face and slight muscle in his arms and legs. "He was looking for work until he stayed at one of the inns for a night. During that time, his food was drugged, and he ended up enslaved. The elf was going to be transferred to another brothel until we arrived and killed everyone. He isn't opposed to staying here since we need guards for the village that aren't so…loud like the ogres and trolls are. I talked to him a bit, and he was interested in getting a job."

"That is helpful. I'll finish up confirming all the details before gearing him up and sending him out to pick a house to stay at. We'll also need to draw up plans for a schedule that the village's guards can follow." Having an actual ranger as part of our village would be extremely helpful for reconnaissance as well as for teaching other guards on scouting and survival within the forests. It was a simple fact that the bulk of our guards, the trolls and ogres, were not that skilled at sneaking about if they ever planned to scout the area.

They left large trails, were loud, and had an identifiable stench. Possibly, Rush's skills could potentially rub off on others if he was command of a squad. I'll keep that in mind for later.

With that, I stood up and prepared a **[Teleport]**. "I'm heading off now. Try to create a rudimentary schedule for the village's guards. Also, I think I've figured out a name that's appropriate to name this village, especially after everything that's occurred." My copy had a curious look on her face after I said this.

"Oh, and that would be?"

"The Haven-Lake Village. We're giving a home and protecting everyone that resides here. It's only appropriate to announce that to those that come here." I answered with a proud smile.

"If that's your decision, I'll let the residents know." With a nod, I cast **[Teleport]** and arrived in the hospital where the guests were all residing. Inside, the room was large with wooden walls and marble floors. On each side of the room, there were clean beds made of a marble base with a mattress, sheets, and pillows on top of it.

Some of the beds still contained sleeping guests, but most were empty as the large part of the guests were sitting at a few tables in the back which had food spread around each one. There were multiple conversations sparsed out between the tables. Yet, that quickly ceased the moment that I my presence was noticed in the room.

"Good morning, everyone. I hope that you're doing well-" I was interrupted when a young voice shouted out.

"Miss Kashia is back!" Was the first thing I heard as I felt a new weight tightly latch onto my side. Looking down over my chest, I spotted the rusty hair of Aaron as he looked up at me with a grin. I returned the smile and patted him on the head.

"Hello, little one. You look much healthier than yesterday. Are you eating well?" He nodded his head vigorously. I couldn't help but note that this kid seemed to have bounced into a positive mindset much faster that many of the others here. Perhaps it was because he hadn't been as mentally broken down as the others were? I couldn't help but feel like my copy had something to do with Aaron's positive and unfearful mindset.

Did she use something like **[Control Amnesia]** on the kid? I wouldn't put it past her to try and repair some of the psychological damage on the kid immediately since it's something that I also would've done. Children shouldn't have to see, and especially experience, such horrific acts. It was better to remove such memories from a child's mind. I've seen enough broken children on Earth that never recovered from whatever psychological trauma that they experienced.

Storing this question away for later, I put up a friendly front for everyone in the room. They needed to know that everything was going to be okay, especially after everything they've gone through. "That's good. I'm glad that you're doing much better. Maybe later, I'll have you shown the lake near us."

"You'd really do that?" I nodded before using one of my tails to scoop the boy up and act as a temporary chair to sit on.

"Everyone, I'm giving you all the choice of whether you wish to stay in Haven-Lake Village or if you'd like to leave. If you choose to stay, you'll be given housing and purpose. If you choose to leave, I'll teleport all of you to wherever you'd like to go with a sack of silver and an item to call upon me if you require aid. This is your decision, so don't feel pressured on if you'd like to stay or not." With this announcement, I created a table and chairs which I sat down at.

"When you are ready, take a seat and tell me what you'd like to do." With that, I sat in one of the fabricated chairs while rocking the tail that held Aaron. The first four people to come to me were the people that my copy told me about earlier.

Sitting in the chair across from me first was Sharyl Hunter. "Hello again, Miss Kashia." Sharyl greeted nervously, "Could I be returned back home to E-Pespel?"

"Of course." I answered before reaching into my storage space. I quickly pulled out a leather sack of coins which I set in front of Sharyl with a clink. Next, I created a **[Talisman of an Allied Beacon]**, a spell used for communication between players. Using it in YGGDRASIL, a player who was designated as the receiver, would be given an alert on their HUD with the location and name of whoever was utilizing it at the time.

I learned the spell because it was a great money generator with guilds. Players that needed help could just pop the item and let their allies know where their location was quickly. Following this, the ally could then cast a teleportation spell linked to that location. It was cheap and effective when I was at a much lower level.

The talisman itself was shaped as a small brass statuette in the shape of a fox. "If you're ever in trouble, hold this talisman and think about me. I'll arrive to aid you in whatever way I can." When I handed the item to Sharyl, she held the object like it was an explosive that could pop off at any moment. Following this, I cast my next spell, **[Read Mind]** to get a mental image of E-Pespel.

**[Read Mind]** was a useful spell to have in YGGDRASIL when you were after a quest or item location from NPCs. It didn't have any use on Players since you couldn't collect information that wasn't already preprogrammed to read. I hadn't used it on a person from this world yet, so it would be a bit of a trial run to see how it worked here.

The moment I cast the spell on Sharyl, everything went dark around me as images, sounds, smells, and so much more crashed against my mind. There was so much useless information that I was seeing, but I only wanted to see E-Pespel.

Yet, when this name popped up in my mind, the deluge of information stopped, and instead a picture-still of a city floated before me. Now, I wanted the location of Sharyl's home. Following this command, a shop front appeared in my mind where a man and Sharyl worked together. My eyes quickly memorized the image before I then ended the spell.

The world came back into focus after this, and it seemed like no time had actually passed since I entered Sharyl's mind. Not even Sharyl herself seemed like she'd noticed my invasive procedure which I was perfectly fine with. It was easier to seek forgiveness than permission, and even easier when the person didn't even know you did to begin with.

"Before I send you off, would you like for me to remove the memories of your time as a slave?" The young woman seemed to weigh this choice for a few moments before she shook her head.

"It was awful, that place. I know that these memories will remain with me for the rest of my life, but I won't forget that I survived through all of that to end up where I am now. I feel a greater appreciation for life, now that I've seen the worst parts of it." I couldn't help but feel a great amount of respect for the woman sitting before me. She had a great amount of strength to keep those memories and still remain moving on with her life afterwards.

"Good luck with your life, Sharyl. May you find great happiness after all of this." With a wave of my wrist, the woman was teleported back to that shopfront of hers. I used a scrying spell to keep an eye on the woman as she hesitantly entered the shop. Inside, I saw a man chopping some beef look up. The moment that Sharyl and the man's eyes met, they ran up to one another and embraced.

With a smile, I cut the image and focused back on the growing line of people at my table. This was going to be a long process, but it would be worth it to see these people living better lives.

* * *

It would be about an hour later that I had sorted through the 23 people that had been rescued. Of them, 12 had chosen to stay for one reason or another. Some wished for me to remove their memories of their time at the brothel, while others declined the offer with similar reasoning to Sharyl's. One especially heartbreaking case occurred to a young woman named Eliza when she found out that her fiancé moved on after she had been kidnapped with another woman. She returned to Haven-Lake afterwards and asked for me to removed her memories of both her time at the brothel and those with her fiancé.

I felt hesitant about the request, but I eventually agreed to what she had asked. If there were any long-term problems, I could always return those memories back to her to fix the issues.

Following this, the new residents were given housing and jobs, if that was what they wanted. The entire process was pretty streamlined since there was already plenty of infrastructure for new residents. After that, I had Trabgo give them a tour around the area. My specific reasoning for giving Trabgo the task is because I wanted the newcomers to get used to the sight of the non-human residents of the settlement, and Trabgo was one of the calmer and collected residents of our group besides Muap, who was likely busy with other tasks my copy gave him.

Currently, we have the elf named Rush acting as a scout. He left after receiving his job in order to get a lay of the land. Layla, a human, was acting as the head of a temporary orphanage for the younger orphans of our town. She was quite enthusiastic about taking the job when I asked her, which made me think that the temporary position should become permanent. That also took care of five of the children and young teenagers, including Aaron.

Poppelia was taken in by a former baker named Alaya. She's another half-elf that had gotten captured a few months ago when traveling the borders of Re-Estize and the Baharuth. Apparently, the woman used to be a well-liked baker in her hometown until another, more ambitious, competitor had paid off a couple of slavers to grab her while she was traveling to see her relatives. From there, they were able to sell their goods without any competition.

Alaya decided to not return to her former home, in the fear that something might occur if she were to appear again. I couldn't blame her for that, and aside from this, her skills would be very appreciated here because we lacked anyone that actually could bake. Thankfully, in addition to Alaya, there was a man named Desmond Greenhardt who used to be a cook that was willing to give his services to the town.

The two remaining, Eliza and another woman named Juno, were undecided on what they wished to do. Until then, they'd be allowed to live here and decide what they'd wish to do here.

After all the work of dealing with the ex-slaves was completed, I finally arrived back to my cabin, where I found my copy sitting at the table talking with Muap. The first thing I noticed about the hobgoblin was that he wore a rudimentary set of armor over clean, and new, clothes.

"-is looking like a good guard assignment. I'll have to get the others to read and memorize it, especially the ogres, but I think that it'll work out pretty well." Muap said as I entered. The hobgoblin jumped in surprise as I closed the door behind me while my copy lazily flicked her tails behind her.

"Seems like you've finished discussing the guard assignment with each other." I remarked as I joined the pair at the table.

"I doubt that I'll ever really get used to seeing a pair of ya." Muap remarked as he focused his eyes on me. "You're the real Kashia, right?" I gave him a nod, which caused the hobgoblin to let out a sigh of relief, "Your copy has been messing with me for the past few days on whether she's the real one or not."

I gave a glance at my copy who giggled, "Sorry, but it's too tempting to mess with everyone about my copy status or not." She answered without any shame, whatsoever. I could only roll my eyes at her audacity.

"Trickery aside, we finished talking over the new guard schedule which'll be a relief to the ogres, trolls, and my boys. They've been quite indecisive about who should be on what shift, so this'll clear things up for them. Besides this, I've learned that you wanted to call this place Haven-Lake. I'm happy that you've finally decided a name, because some of my boys were coming up with the dumbest names before you finally decided."

"Like what?"

"Moss-Log, Trash-Pond, and the Tail Lady's House were just a couple ideas being thrown out. There were many worse names, but I don't wanna bother recalling them." Muap answered with exasperation, not that I could blame him for it if he had to hear all these terrible names. "There have also been questions about what is gonna be happening with the people you've brought here. Mind enlightening me about it?"

"We'll be getting 12 new members of Haven-Lake. Nine are humans, two are half-elves, and one is an elf. I'd like for everyone to treat them nicely, and if not possible, at least with curtesy. They've all had a rough time, so they'll need to be given the chance to acclimate with how things are run here."

The instant I mentioned humans, Muap gained a look of curiosity. "It'll be different living with humans rather than fighting them. None here are that opposed to humans, mainly since they know that you'll deal with any issues that rise up, but they'll be nervous since only Trabgo and I have experience in dealing with humans when they weren't attacking us. I'll see what I can do to keep the peace on that end."

"That's all I can ask." I knew from personal experience that you can't force people to like one another, but you can get them to learn to live together. Which reminded me, "By the way, how well has Zaryusu managed to fit in?"

"The big lizard is quite well-liked by my boys, and he's even gained a few of the ogres' respect due to how well he fought in the mock-fights that we have." I gave him a questioning look which he quickly picked up on, "Don't worry, no one gets too injured. The fights were started by the trolls to work off extra tension and energy at the end of the day. They became popular enough that other races besides them have joined in."

"And these fights aren't getting too out of hand?" I asked.

"Don't worry, we've got rules in place. No killings, fights end by surrender or the opponent can't fight back, and if we're going for fast matches, then first blood. If things start getting rowdy, I shut the fight down." I nodded in understanding.

The trolls and ogres had a society based around strength, so it would be logical to guess that both races might have fights for dominance. It's very reasonable that they started up these fights so that they could release the urge to fight in a more constructive manner. "I'll trust your judgement on this. If you'd like, either I or my copy could create an arena for the others to fight in."

"That'd be very welcomed. It would be better than the dirt circle that is typically used." Muap said with enthusiasm.

"I'll see about talking with Zaryusu later today when I get back from E-Rantel. It's been a while since I've checked in on him and I'd like to get his opinion on how things are run here." Turning my attention to my copy, I said, "Everyone is getting shown the town as well as to their new homes. Try and keep tabs on them while I'm gone in case anything happens, and **[Message]** me if anything does."

"Got it, Boss." My copy said with a wink. With this answer, I activated my illusion once again before casting **[Greater Teleportation]** to head back to my room at the Hero's Respite. It was when I arrived that I felt slight disappointment that quickly became overshadowed by happiness.

The reason for this was because I didn't manage to live up to my initial promise to Ninya by coming back before she or her sister had awoken. On the other hand, my apprentice was excitedly talking, mixed with crying, with her sister Tuare.

My arrival didn't go unnoticed as Tuare quickly spotted me before unconsciously pushing herself against the corner of the bed and the wall. That was definitely a leftover psychological effect from her time in the brothel. No doubt, Tuare was suffering a large case of post-traumatic stress disorder. It was a similar reaction to the others that I'd rescued. "Ninya, who is that?" The blonde girl asked fearfully. Ninya turned to see what was causing her sister such an animalistic reaction, before her expression relaxed and was followed by a smile.

"Kashia, you're finally back!" Ninya said while wiping any remnant tears from her eyes. She then turned back to her sister, "Don't worry, Tuare, this is Kashia Blanc, the woman that rescued you. She won't hurt you."

Tuare's body language became more subdued after she was told this, yet her eyes still held slight mistrust. "Sorry about being late, the tasks I needed to do this morning took much longer than I thought it would." I said while pulling a chair over to the sisters and joining them.

"It's fine. I didn't even notice since we've just been talking this entire time." She answered. No doubt that they'd be engrossed in catching up with one another, well, probably more like Ninya's been catching up since I doubted that Tuare would like to talk about everything that had happened to her.

"That's great. It's good to see that the pair of you are talking." I remarked before turning my attention to Tuare, "As your doctor, I need to know if you've been experiencing any leftover pain or injuries? I was very thorough when I healed you, but I'd like to know if there was anything that I missed." Tuare broke her eye contact with me and took on a more diminutive posture in bed.

"N-No, there hasn't been any pain. This i-is the first time in a long while that I-I haven't felt a constant pain in c-certain place on my body. I-I even have my missing t-teeth after I lost them for doing a…bad…_job_…" The girl's voice trailed off as she began remembering her time in the brothel.

"Excellent. It would tarnish my reputation as a doctor if you still had any remaining injuries that I missed." I said with a small amount of pride.

"M-Miss…why d-did you save me? W-Why do a-all this work for s-such a failure of a-a worker like me?" I tried to hide the look of pity that my face wanted to form. This girl didn't need pity, she needed help and safety.

"Don't ever think of yourself as a failure. You did what you could to survive in a horrible situation and that is behind you now." I said calmly with a smile to the girl. "I see it as an obligation to help people if you have the ability to do so, and you are no exception." It was easy to notice how Tuare tried to avoid eye-contact with me as I spoke to her.

"Please, sister, you don't need to worry. You're completely safe here because Kashia and I will make sure that nothing can hurt you." Ninya added with a light reassuring squeeze of Tuare's hand. After Ninya said this, my ears picked up light growling of a pair of hungry stomachs that soon became audible to the two girls.

"Have either of you had breakfast yet?" I asked in amusement. The sisters shook their heads, causing me to chuckle. "I'll go fetch us all something to eat." As I said this, I took a sniff of the air and discovered the scent of beef, potatoes, and dried fish. Not the worst breakfast, but it wasn't the best. "Be right back." I stood up from the chair and left the room.

Walking to the bar of the inn, I couldn't help but overhear some interesting conversations.

"Did you guys hear, all of Dragon Furnace were slaughtered in the cemetery the other day." A gruff male voice said.

"Shit, Zeran was the one that made all of my armor. He sold such good product for such a cheap price. I'm gonna be so screwed when I need to get a new set of armor." I female voice said with great disappointment. "How did you even find this out? They'd only been missing since yesterday."

"I've got a friend that works his watch at the cemetery. He told me that the adventuring group Swords of Darkness hauled the bodies out yesterday. Either way, I'm staying out of the cemetery from now on. The shit pay that the guards give is not worth dying for to whatever is killing people in there."

"Really makes me wonder how the Swords of Darkness managed to survive going there? They're just a group of silver-plates without any major achievements to name." The woman pondered.

"That's the thing, they've got a new member to their group. Her name's Kashia Blanc, and from what my friend told me, she put a molten crater into that cemetery the first time she came there." I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at knowing that such a simple act on my end could inspire such stories about me.

"Really? Isn't that the new girl with the massive t-" And just like that I'm tuning out. It was appropriate as well since I arrived to the tavern section of the inn where I quickly strutted over to the bar where Morgan was "busy" cleaning tankards. With the amount of times that I've noticed him cleaning those things they probably should have holes in the sides from all the friction.

"Morning, Morgan. Is breakfast still available?" I asked as I took a seat at the bar. Morgan raised his gaze to me before setting the tankard aside.

"Yeah, we've still got breakfast. You just need to have the coin for it." He answered with a smirk.

"Great. I'm going to need three plates." I said, much to the man's curiosity. "What's with the look?"

He snorted while shaking his head. "It's nothing. Seems that you still have a few guests staying with you. Reckon that one of them is that kid that was with you yesterday." He remarked as he gathered some wooden plates which he placed beef and potatoes on it. Guess he must've run out of the fish. "Still, ain't my problem. As long as you're paying the rent, I don't care."

He slid the three plates to me across the bar's counter and I handed him back the copper pieces that were owed. "Thanks for the food. See you later." I said while scooping up the plates so that one was balanced between the crook of my arm while the other two were held in my hands. This would be so much easier if I could just use my tails, but I'm trying to keep my disguise up, so the tails are a no go.

Walking back to my room, I stealthily used one of my invisible tails to turn the handle to my room and entered with the food in tow. "Grub's on. You wouldn't believe the incredible journey it took to arrive here. There was dangerous terrain along with the innumerous amounts of enemies that I had to fight and claw through to bring this delicious breakfast to you."

"I highly doubt that. The bar is only about fifteen feet away from us." Ninya stated.

"It was a harrowing fifteen feet." I retorted before arriving next to the two girls. I noticed out of the corner of my eyes that Tuare was trying to hide a smile at mine and Ninya's interaction. Handing the plates to each of the sisters, I finally joined the two in my empty chair and we all began eating.

As we ate, Tuare and Ninya chatted with each other while I remained silent and simply watched. These two needed all the time that they could get with one another and I'd give them as much as needed. Or, at least, that's what I wanted to do. Unfortunately, I needed to discuss important matters, starting with Ninya.

"Hey, kiddo, mind if I talk to you outside for a quick minute?" I asked while setting my plate aside.

"Uh, sure." She answered before looking at Tuare, "I'll be right back."

"D-Don't worry, I'll be right here." Tuare replied with a reassuring smile to the young mage. With that, Ninya and I got up and left the room while closing the door behind us. I then had us walk down the hallway until I felt like we were far enough away.

"Ninya, in your personal opinion, how well do you personally feel that your sister is holding up psychologically?" I asked as I stopped walking and leaned my back against the wall of the hallway. I chose to stop here specifically because I couldn't smell or hear anyone close enough to listen in on our private conversation.

My apprentice was silent for a moment as she considered what to say, then she looked at me and answered, "She's been extremely reserved and submissive since she woke up. At times, it seems like Tuare is afraid that I'll be upset with whatever she might say or do. She's been walking on eggshells around me, and while it's been lessened after we started talking, it's easy enough to spot. I'm worried for her, yet I don't know what to do to help her."

An expected answer, disheartening, but very expected. Someone that went through trauma like that would need years of therapy and help before they might regain a semblance of their former personality, and even then, it wasn't fully certain that said person would even be able to return to their former self.

"Just what I thought. Ninya, I'm going to completely honest with you, it will probably take years before Tuare can move past everything that happened to her, and that isn't a given outcome. For all we know, she might never fully recover." It tugged on my heartstrings to watch some of the hope drain from Ninya's eyes, but it was something that she needed to hear.

"This is why I'm going to offer something to Tuare that I thought you should hear about first." When I said this, Ninya's eyes regained some of that lost hope. No doubt that this was due to all the miracles that Ninya had been seeing me perform just today.

"Do you really have a way to help Tuare?"

"Yes. What I plan to offer her is a clean slate, so to speak. I know a spell that can alter her memories of the time that she was taken so that it would be completely gone. She'd know of everything that occurred before and when she was taken, and she'd remember everything during and after her rescue, but everything in between that would be a complete blank." Even as I said this, the metaphorical gears in Ninya's head began turning at the thought of my offer.

"Would this possibly hurt her? Could anything go wrong with using the spell?"

"No. The spell won't do anything more or less than what I want it to. From Tuare's perspective, it'll be like she was taken from your village, lived out a blank period of time that she'll be unable to recall, and then finally freed by us. She'll know that she was enslaved, but she won't know any of the details." I answered as fully as I could. All of this could be said without any doubt due to the people who wanted me to erase their former memories of the time in the brothel.

"I trust you. But would you let me be the one to tell Tuare? She trusts me, much more than you, and it'll make talking about your offer much easier for her." I nodded at her request. It was completely understandable, especially because Tuare still had greater trust in Ninya than anyone else.

Placing and arm over Ninya's shoulders, I had the pair of us walk back to my room together. Ninya knocked on the door to alert Tuare, then she slowly opened it and we walked inside. After this, the two of us sat in our empty chairs and looked at the blonde girl. I was pleased to see that Tuare had been eating more while we were in the hallway.

I noticed that Tuare seemed like she wanted to ask us something, probably about what we might've been discussing outside the room, yet she held her question back. Ninya, noticing her sister's curiosity spoke out, "Tuare, is there something that you want to ask?"

Surprise filled the blonde's features before they settled for a relieved smile, "I-I was wondering what it was that you and M-Miss Kashia were talking about?"

"Actually, we were just going to talk to you about it. Kashia was telling me about a spell that she knows which could be used to help you." Ninya began.

"W-What would I need help with?" Tuare asked with interest.

"Kashia knows a spell that could remove the terrible memories of your time enslaved. You wouldn't be burdened by everything that happened, and you'd have an easier time adjusting to life now." I kept my gaze on Tuare's turquoise eyes, watching their reaction. What I saw was a great rush of emotion, from fear, to wonder, and finally they remained on hope and excitement.

"That could be done? I wouldn't have to remember all of the things that happened? Would I lose more than just my time in that place?" Tuare questions quickly became aimed at me and I noticed that her stuttering or soft-spoken tone were being reined in.

"I'll only remove the memories of your time enslaved, nothing more and nothing less. From your perspective, the past two years of your life will be like a foggy dream. You'll know that you were taken and eventually rescued, but all the time between that will be gone. This is what I'm offering you but it's your decision on whether or not you wish to go through with this. I need your consent on casting this spell on you." My answer seemed to put the girl at ease because she leaned back into her bed and seemed to be staring upwards at nothing.

"Ever s-since you brought me h-here, I've only been afraid. I-I know that Ninya and you won't l-let anything happen to me, but it doesn't change that." She was silent for a moment, as if thinking what to say next, "I-I don't want to be afraid anymore. I want to t-talk and laugh with Ninya like we used t-to. Please, c-could you remove these m-memories?"

I gave her a nod at the decision. My ear twitched when it picked up a soft sigh of relief that came from Ninya. "This won't hurt a bit, so just relax." Following this, I placed a hand on Tuare's forehead and cast **[Control Amnesia]**. The effects of this spell, while normally unseen as it affected one mentally rather than physically, could be seen in the way that Tuare's expression and posture became completely calm.

I've heard and seen how mentally stressful times could make a person appear older than they actually were, but it was something new to watch Tuare. In moments, the memories and experiences that had haunted the girl faded away from her mind. The stress and horror that had added years to her appearance slowly left her face, making her look younger and much closer to what her actual age should be.

Tuare stopped looking to empty space after the spell's effect had worked its way through her. Instead, she gazed at Ninya with eyes that were no longer filled with the learned fear that she'd gained in the past two years.

"Tuare, how are you feeling?" Ninya asked nervously.

"I'm not afraid anymore." She answered with a great smile as she pulled the bedsheet off herself and changed her position to now sit on the edge of her bed. "I feel better now, Nin." Tuare then pulled Ninya into a hug while I watched the interaction with a proud smile on my face.

"Sis, I'm so happy that you're feeling better now." Ninya answered in turn. "I was worried that you might not recover after everything." I took this time to interrupt their moment with a slight cough, earning the sisters' attention.

"Hey girls, I think it's time we discussed your housing." I stood up as I said this and pulled open the door to the sanctuary. "Come in, I've got some places to show you inside since the pair of you will be rooming here." The sisters broke their embrace while Ninya took Tuare by the hand and led her to the magical room.

Once inside, I led the two across the garden to the cabin in the middle. The entire time, Tuare couldn't stop looking around the realm in wonder. When we all arrived together in the cabin Tuare finally spoke, "What is this place? It looks amazing. And I never even knew that there were plants like this that existed."

"To answer your first question, this is a private realm that was conjured by me. The only way into this place is through the doorway that we just came in." I answered while striding to the trapdoor in the cabin. "And, for the other remark, this place has been a storage area for many of the things I've collected over the years. The floor that we are on now is the garden which is where I grow alchemical agents and such in. Maybe later, I'll show you some of the rarer plants that reside on this floor."

"This floor? How many floors are there in this place?"

"Eight. This floor is called the alchemy floor for the obvious reasons." Pulling the trapdoor open to reveal a set of stone stairs, I began walking down while motioning for them to follow when I stopped. My nose began twitching as I smelled something which immediately triggered what I'd forgotten when I first entered this realm yesterday.

Oh dear lord, I fucking forgot who I left in here.

"YIIIII!" I suddenly felt a small warm thing tackle itself into my chest, causing me to fall on my ass before I slid down a few steps. At the same time, Tuare and Ninya screamed in surprise which was beginning to give me a headache due to the pitch of their voices. I tried to look over my sizable bust to spot the new hanger-on.

Thankfully, what had jumped onto me had finally moved into my vision without me needing to bend over in an embarrassing position. I could only see the head of what had tackled me, a very small, very scaly head with a long snout. "You've come! You've come! Meepo felt so horrible for not being there when you finally came back to your sanctuary! But Meepo is here this time, Meepo has been working more closely to the second floor entrance in wait for you!" Following this declaration, the scaly head buried itself into my clevage.

"What is that thing!?" Ninya shouted from the top of the stairs while a spell was quickly being prepared in her hand. I simply held my hand up in a stopping gesture before standing up and pulling out the creature that was burying itself into my chest.

"Come on out, I've got people for you to meet and it doesn't make a good introduction if you are buried in my boobs." As I said this, I grabbed the reptilian by the scruff of his clothing and pulled him out.

In my hand was a small red kobold with a pair of orange reptilian eyes. He had multiple small horns on the top of his head, but two that spiked from the sides of his nose and one under his chin gave the impression of a mustache and goatee. He wore a blue robe that had a bandolier over it that was filled with small vials.

Even as I held him in this embarrassing position, the kobold's tail wagged excitedly like a dog's. "Nothing to worry about, this is just a resident of my sanctuary that lives here." I then looked at the kobold and said, "How about you introduce yourself to our guests." He quickly nodded his head excitedly and I lowered the kobold to the ground. It was easy to that he was quite small, especially because he only came up to a little under my knee.

"Greetings, friends of the mistress! This one is known as Meepo Breepo. Meepo is a lucky one chosen by the mistress and fate to act as her aid and companion within the Fox13itch Realm!" He then bowed to the confused sisters before running back to my side and scrambling up my body like a squirrel until he rested comfortably on my shoulder. "Mistress," He whispered into my ear, "what had become of your tails and ears?"

"I'll tell you later." I whispered back. "For now, I'm called Kashia Blanc, not Fox13itch."

This little guy was an NPC under my control. In YGGDRASIL, NPCs, better known as non-player characters, were typically inhabitants and creations of guilds, either due to randomly spawning within a guild to give it life and presence, bought with gold as mercenaries, or custom-created by players in the guild. Under normal circumstances, player not in a guild would find gaining an NPC for themselves to be incredibly difficult, usually requiring finagling or using a World Item to do so.

In my case, I earned myself an NPC from a guild after performing a job from them to help in a largescale guild battle. I had been very careful when choosing this job, with a personal requirement being that I wouldn't help in raiding a guild base. I did this more to protect myself than anything else as while an open battlefield could be altered and controlled to my leisure, a guild raid involved fighting on an enemy's home field and I don't like fighting without knowing the battlefield.

Anyways, as my reward, the guild created me an NPC with 30 levels on it and with all my input on customization. At the time, I was interested in methods to make money since I was trying to fund my sanctuary's expansion, so I agreed. Following this, I had Meepo Breepo created with 10 levels in **[Alchemist]**, 15 levels in** [Craftsman]** and 5 levels in **[Magic Craftsman]**. All of this was to make a worker that could create potions and items which I could later sell after questing or grinding.

I had last left Meepo in the sanctuary realm with programmed orders to create potions, magical items, and to replant used resources. To be quite honest, I hadn't even remembered that Meepo was here since I had only seen him as a bot that was just part of the environment. Shit, I didn't even realize that he could be alive in this new world since I'd completely written him off as essentially a walking toolbox.

I feel like a terrible person now. And, I definitely need to get to my vault since I'd left a sorta NPC in there to guard it. Well, not left, he did come with the vault, but you know what I mean.

"Umm, Kashia, what did he call this place?" Ninya tentatively asked.

"Nothing, just a bit of an inside joke between us, isn't that right, Meepo?" I answered, hoping to whatever god was listening that Meepo could actually pick up on improv.

"Yes, mistress, just a joke between you and Meepo." I internally sighed in relief when Meepo said this. All it took was one fuck-up for the carefully constructed persona I've made for myself to be destroyed and Meepo was probably the only being here that could make that happen.

"So, have you always had a kobold living in this place? Where did he come from?" Ninya asked as she and Tuare came down the steps together. I gave a glance at Meepo and thought about the backstory that I'd given myself before answering.

"Meepo's family have acted as friends and servants to mine for years." I couldn't help but notice that his tail started patting my back as it wagged from excitement. "When I left to travel the world, Meepo wouldn't let me go on my own, but he also didn't like sunlight or to be away from a workshop for too long, so we made a compromise. I gave him a complete workshop in this realm, and he'd make sure to take care of the place while I'm away." I really hoped that Ninya accepted this answer because this was already an awkward situation for me as it is.

"And serve the mistress, Meepo has!" As he announced this, he leapt over my shoulder and landed between Ninya, Tuare, and I. "Meepo's created so many potions and items while here. Shall Meepo show you what Meepo's made?"

"Certainly. The girls need a tour of this place since they'll be residing in the top floor cabin." I answered before stepping aside to let Meepo lead us. Excitedly, the small kobold began skipping forwards down the stone-brick hallway. There were three doors in this hallway, with two leading different sections of this level and the final door opening to a set of stairs to the third level.

Meepo quickly arrived at the door on the left, hopped up, and grabbed the doorknob while using his weight to pull the doorknob down to open it. "He seems a little…" Tuare began.

"Eccentric. Are you sure that he's all there?" Ninya finished.

"Of course, he's just excited at meeting new people. _I hope._" I whispered that last part as we followed after the kobold. It was when we arrived inside that I finally got to see how much this little kobold had done while I had been away.

On this floor, I stored and created many of the more intensive potions that I or Meepo could produce. When I had left this place a month or so ago, I'd just shoved everything that could fit into multiple chests and left it as is. Now, instead of a bunch of scattered chests, there were wooden racks lining the entire room like library bookcases that were filled with potions that had been organized into different categories.

It was a massive and I couldn't even guess the amount of time that had been spent organizing everything like this. I didn't even get a word in as Meepo rolled over to us on a stepladder with wheels, grinning like a child during Christmas as he did so.

"You like? Meepo spent the past three days organizing all of the potions and ingredients on this floor for when you'd return!" The kobold stated proudly. With a set of raised eyebrows, I nodded in answer.

"This is extremely impressive." I answered while my eyes were still transfixed on the rainbow of vials filled colored liquids. When I'd left, there had definitely not been this many potions stored in the chests. "Dear lord, how many potions are even here now?" I muttered to myself.

Yet, while I was amazed at the organization and quantity, Ninya and Tuare were completely in awe at the potions themselves. Ninya had already gone next to one of the shelves and began studying the liquids inside. "I've never seen this many potions together in one place before." The girl asked.

"By Meepo's count, there are over two thousand potions here. Some of Meepo's pride and joy, it is." Meepo replied as the stepladder that he was on began rolling without anyone or thing pushing it…magic? Probably.

"You…you have a literal fortune down here depending on what these potions can do!" Ninya said in shock. Meepo and I looked at one another before we shrugged.

"I am a powerful mage and royalty, though everything here was made by either Meepo or I. To be honest, I haven't really worried about things like money for a long time. At this point, we're just making potions as something to do and in case we ever actually need them." My answer still didn't seem to change Ninya's reaction at the fact that I had an, at least for normal adventurer like her, absurd amount of wealth.

"This is still so much." Ninya muttered.

"Miss Kashia, how long have you been adding to this collection? It must've taken ages." Tuare asked in interest.

"A few years. Building up a supply like this takes time, especially if it's only two people." As I said this, Meepo rolled over to us.

"While the results of Meepo's and mistress' work is quite a sight to see, Meepo would now like to show you the ingredient and production room! Follow Meepo!" Suddenly, the stepladder rocketed past Tuare and I to the door and then outside to the door across the hallway. Unfortunately, Tuare and I couldn't help but wince as the moving stepladder crashed into the door with a thud, followed by Meepo's body slamming against the same door before falling off the stepladder onto the floor.

The noise was even enough to drag Ninya's attention away from inspecting the numerous potions. She quickly joined Tuare and I as we watched Meepo moan as he pushed himself back up onto his feet. "Meepo still hasn't fully worked out the stopping system for the device. Unfortunately, Meepo only built the device yesterday."

After saying this, the kobold climbed back up onto the stepladder and turned the door's knob before using the stepladder to push the door open. The three of us quickly made our way to the production room, where I say many shelves and containers filled with different ingredients. In the center of all this was a table filled with many different alchemical tools and objects.

"Making and organizing this room took only two days. Meepo didn't have to organize as heavily because the ingredients could be stored in containers with one another, unlike how the vials and bottles need greater space due to their fragility." As Meepo said this I couldn't help but wonder how many of the ingredients here were irreplaceable.

While here in this new world, I couldn't be fully certain on if the ingredients I had in this realm even grew out in the new world. For all I know, everything here could be the last of what I had. "Hey, Meepo, I want you to cut production of potions that require ingredients which can't be replaced by things we grow here."

"Of course! Meepo'll even take the time to organize the ingredients here based upon replaceability if you wish." I gave the kobold a nod. "Excellent! Meepo'll will finish work on this floor by tonight. Though, that will slow down organization of items and resources on the other floor."

"Sounds fine. Do what you feel is best. I leave the care of the floors in your tiny humble hands." At least this would give me the chance to take stock of the supplies that I had here. It would give me an idea of what I could still work with, especially because the healing potions used specific stones that I had doubts could be found in this new world.

"With that being the case, Meepo hopes that you'll be kind enough to not view the other floors just yet. It's still so disorganized, and Meepo wants everything to be perfect for you, and especially honored guests of yours, to see."

After all the time that Meepo had saved me in organizing this entire place myself, I felt it was fair to honor the little guy's wishes. Also, I was slightly worried that not accepting his request would piss him off and I had no damn idea where everything had been placed just yet.

"If that's what you would like, then we can wait for you to finish before touring the other floors." After giving my answer, Meepo started to hop excitedly on his stepladder…until he made a misstep and slipped off the stepladder only to fall onto his back.

"Meepo meant to do that!"

Quickly turning to looked at Ninya and Tuare, I spoke, "Well girls, what do you think about your new roommate?"


	11. Chapter 10

**A Vulpine Spanner in the Works**

**Chapter 10: Changes for Good or Worse**

**[E-Rantel: Magician's Guild]**

If one were to climb the multiple staircases to the top floor of the illustrious Magician's Guild, a strange place of sorcery to those who were uninitiated into the organization, they'd be greeted to a wide hallway with three doors forking off to different rooms. In the room on the left, multiple ancient and powerful tomes of magic were locked away and zealously protected by multiple enchantments and curses. On the right, the room contained two powerful artifacts that supposedly dated back to the time of the Eight Greed Kings.

This room contained similar, if not even greater, protections from potential thieves that would be tempted by the value and power of these artifacts. Yet, the greatest protection for either of these rooms was believed to be not from the spells protecting them, but from the guildmaster's office being located between these two rooms.

From the staircase, a mage in a green robe quickly walked up the steps and onto the red carpeted floor. In the mage's left hand was a scroll sealed with wax and stamped with the guild symbol of a hand holding a spell. In her right hand, a few documents that were held without the same gentle grip as the scroll. The mage, a woman with blue hair that had been tied into a messy bun, had an expression on her face that was a mix of excitement and fear.

In a few moments, she had arrived at the door leading to the office of the guildmaster, a strong mage called Theo Rakheshir. Taking a moment to smooth out the wrinkles in her robe, the woman then knocked on the door and waited. An almost inaudible noise of something moving came from the room before falling silent. Then, it was followed by a voice saying, "You may enter."

The woman quickly turned the doorknob and entered in a circular room which was much different than the quite bland hallway the woman had come from. Inside, multiple lights of magical blue fire floated at the top of the room, bathing it in an eerie glow. Covering most of the walls of the room were shelves that held arcane tomes or magical items. In the center of the room was a beautiful wooden desk that was covered in multiple arcane symbols. Unfortunately, much of this desk was being covered up by different arcane objects.

Towering behind this desk was a macabre exhibit of the assembled bones of a young dragon. The mage had no idea on what type of dragon it was, and she had no wish to ask her guildmaster to answer this. She also had no wish of finding out how Theo had attained such a complete skeleton of said dragon.

Yet, even though the dragon's skeleton was very unsettling, it didn't cause as much fear as the guildmaster himself. Sitting at the desk was a man whose attention was closely focused on inspecting the items on the desk. He wore expensive blue robes that would cost a normal farmer an entire year of their pay, yet they seemed to have not been cleaned in quite a while. In fact, the man known as Theo Rakheshir looked like he hadn't slept for the past few days.

His green eyes had a madness within them that seemed to be barely contained. He had greasy brown hair that went down to his shoulders and the beginnings of a thin beard. If this was any other person, they'd be seen as a neurotic lunatic that needed to be avoided if not locked up. With Theo Rakheshir, due to being a guildmaster of mages, people wrote his appearance off as being eccentric.

The young woman, Mavian, knew that such opinions were being generous. Due to working as Theo's personal assistant for the past five months, she'd seen that the man's obsession with magic, and items that contained magic, was very unhealthy. At times, she'd even heard the man talk to magical items as if they were people when he thought he was alone.

Yet, these moments of madness that she'd bore witness to didn't deter her from doing her job. Instead, it motivated her to excel at the tasks given to her so that she may be promoted faster and leave Theo's service. For now, she tried to ignore her leader's strangeness and perform her job, and today, this job was quite important.

She quickly strode over to the desk and placed the sealed scroll before the unkempt man. "Sir, a message has arrived from one of the arcane explorers this morning." Mavian stated before setting the other documents in her hand to the side of the table for later. Their importance was negligible in the face of the message.

The arcane explorers were a subset of the Magician's Guild whose main duty was to explore the land and find places or items of magical importance. Depending on what it was, the explorer would collect the items if they could be moved, or they'd send a message back to their home guild to inform the guildmaster. Typically, the arcane explorers would only send such a message back if they found a place of great power or a powerful relic that was being guarded.

It was when Mavian mentioned the arcane explorers that Theo stopped studying whatever items were on his desk and showed interest. He quickly snatched the scroll and broke the seal on it before letting the parchment roll open. Following this, his eyes could be seen flitting back and forth with fervent excitement before smiling.

"Mavian, do you know what our explorers have just found?" Theo asked.

"No, sir. The message was sealed for your eyes only." Mavian replied, already expecting Theo to tell her. She'd found that the man tended to use other people as sounding boards with her being no different at the moment.

"Very recently, a massive structure was seen towering over the trees in the Forest of Tob. It wasn't natural and could've only come about through a great act of magic. This means that something of great magical power resides within that forest." Theo stated with a slowly growing manic grin.

"Sir, if you're thinking about sending people into the forest, haven't you considered that whatever caused it might be extremely dangerous? For all we know, this could be a person testing an immensely powerful artifact, and they might have great opposition to us collecting said artifact." Mavian explained. She highly doubted that Theo would actually take her advice into consideration because of his obsession with magic. An artifact or place that could conjure massive constructs would belong to the age of the gods.

"It's an even greater reason to send people to investigate. From the report, the structure appeared like a giant tree of stone. If we found what caused this, and if said cause could create other structures, then it could greatly aid our kingdom! We could even change the course of the constant wars with the Baharuth! If we discovered this cause, then our organization would become the most illustrious in all the kingdom." Theo reasoned as he began pulling out a sheet of parchment and a quill.

Mavian already knew that this would be the outcome of the discussion, but she still had to try reasoning with Theo. Whatever caused the structure to appear in the forest was immensely powerful, yet there was too little explanation for what caused it. In Mavian's personal opinion, it'd be better to inform the king about this and hopefully gather a large group of the kingdom's soldiers to aid them in discovering the cause of this phenomenon.

But Mavian kept these thoughts to herself. It was better to follow her guildmaster's ideas than to go against them. She'd learned during her time in the guild that she was more likely to be promoted if she didn't argue with her superiors. This was just another one of those situations.

"What do you want to do?" The mage asked.

"I'm writing a message to the guildmaster of the Adventurer's Guild. I'll be asking him to assemble a group of silver-plate or higher adventurers that can protect our mages as they travel through the Great Forest of Tob in three days." Theo then finished the note by pulling out a seal and stamping it onto the bottom of the note.

"Who'll be going into the forest? It's quite dangerous, especially with the Three Monsters of the Forest patrolling it." Mavian questioned.

"I'll be one of the members going on this expedition. I also have Shamus, Zeltry, and Craven in mind for the group."

"But, none of you know the forest. Even more, how will you convince enough adventurers to come into the forest with how dangerous it is?"

"I've made the reward for escorting our group is five gold each. They'll also receive another five if all of our group makes it out of the forest alive." He then rolled the message up and tied a line of string around it to keep it closed. "And to answer your other question, we'll be guided by our resident mage, Mercia. She has great experience in traveling the forest and has even gotten to the Great Lake multiple times."

He then held the scroll out to Mavian, who took it with a questioning look. "Take that to the Adventurer's Guild. Make sure it makes it to the hands of Pluton Ainzach." Mavian was about to run off and follow her superior's orders when he added, "Also, ask Pluton if he can get me a meeting with the woman known as Kashia Blanc, and if possible, I'd like to specifically request for her to be one of the adventurers on the job. From what I've heard, she's shown the ability to cast 3rd Tier spells, and talent like that shouldn't be squandered in the Adventurer's Guild. I want to see if she'll join our guild."

Mavian became extremely interested at hearing of a 3rd Tier spellcaster. Finding one was an extremely rare event, especially if they were younger than thirty or forty. To date, there were only three known 3rd Tier casters in E-Rantel right now. One would be Theo, which was one of the reasons for why he was made the guildmaster of the city, another was Zorbeck, an old librarian of the guild who had no sense of ambition, and the final was Verona Margrost, the head priestess of Four Great Gods' church here in E-Rantel.

With the arrival of another 3rd Tier caster to the city, the factions within the city would be jumping head over heels to recruit this Kashia into their own group so as to attain higher political standing amongst the other factions. Unfortunately, the fact that this woman was an accomplished mage made forcibly recruiting her into the guild, as is the usual practice for all new magic users, an option that was unavailable to them. Instead, they'd need to have a way to tempt this woman into the guild.

The Magician's Guild would need to work fast on this task, because if they knew about a new 3rd Tier magic user in the city, then everyone else was soon to follow. That was if no other faction of the city knew already.

Either way they needed to, if not recruit her for themselves, at least make sure that the mayor of E-Rantel didn't latch his claws into her. It was already difficult enough for the Magician's Guild, let alone the other guilds and factions of the city, to gain any form of leverage over the Royal Faction without giving them another powerful magic user as an asset.

"Understood. I'll deliver your request to Ainzach now." Giving Theo a quick bow, she immediately left the room to accomplish the tasks assigned to her. She was also more than happy to get away from the man's neurotic presence.

* * *

**[Kashia]**

"Ninya, with everything that's happened, I think we should let the rest of the guys know about this." I said. Currently, the Veyron sisters, Meepo, and I were sitting at a table together on the first floor of the sanctuary in the cabin. Meepo had been kind enough to make tea for us to drink, which I had a sneaking suspicion was made using skills from his **[Alchemist]** class.

"What would we tell them? I'm still hesitant to reveal to the others that I'm a-" Ninya began nervously.

"Don't worry, we won't need to reveal your gender to them." When I said this, Ninya quickly relaxed, "But I do believe that we should tell them. Especially because with Tuare here, it's not appropriate to make her keep the lie up." Tuare looked at Ninya and I with a confused expression.

"What are you two talking about?" Tuare asked. I gave Ninya a questioning glance and she returned a defeated nod to me.

"Tuare, after you were taken, I decided to hide my true gender to protect myself. Because of this, the only people that know I'm a girl are you and Kashia. Not even my friends in the adventuring group that Kashia and I are part of know." Ninya explained, a flash of worry filled her eyes, most likely due to what the other guys in our group would think when they heard the truth. From what I've learned while interacting with the rest of the Swords of Darkness, Dyne would be quite understanding of the situation and probably just treat Ninya as normal.

Peter would very likely have reservations about Ninya keeping such a large piece of information secret from the rest of the group. It would be a toss-up on whether this would impact the group's dynamic or not. I'd be willing to bet that Peter would try to be mature and keep his opinions on Ninya separate whenever we went on a mission. The only one that I'd be hesitant about is Lukrut. The blond was very emotional and didn't have the type of maturity that Dyne and Peter did. In addition, he may view Ninya as weaker due to being a girl.

Though, that opinion may have been altered due to how powerful I am along with how I've taken Ninya under my wing as my apprentice. Regardless, I believe that Lukrut would be the hardest hit when this information was revealed.

On a different tangent, I still had no real idea on how I could teach Ninya magic unless I used my hid-…wait, I just got an idea. I've been noticing that while the casting of magic hasn't changed from my time in YGGDRASIL, the effects certainly have. Would the **[Wish]** spell be any different and actually cast a wish that I could word myself or just give me a selection of choices from a pre-generated list?

Because, if that was the case, I could use the **[Wish Upon a Star]** ring to test out this hypothesis and wish for the knowledge of how to learn and teach my magic. If I did so, could that allow me to expand my spell list beyond the limits that YGGDRASIL imposed? I'll test this out later tonight at Haven's Lake since otherwise, the ring would just sit useless on my finger.

Since coming here, I'd been making sure to avoid casting spells with costs that I was unsure could be restored. For instance, I didn't know if experience worked here like in the game, especially because I never felt any type of gains when I killed the monsters in the world. Using the ring instead of the **[Wish]** spell would mitigate the experience costs while also answering my question.

"What is it that you wish to do? If you choose to reveal or not reveal your gender to your friends, I'll still support your decision. I'd rather not be the reason for your friends to not like you if I can help it." Tuare asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

"This isn't nor will it ever be your fault for my friends hating me. It's my fault for hiding the truth from them and it's something that I've been expecting to happen for some time now." Ninya stated with a determined tone. This sudden strength then became buried under doubt as she added, "I'm not fully against the idea, but I am scared of what'll happen after I tell the others."

"Kiddo, look at me," I commanded while the girl's head turned to me, "if they are your friends, and I know that they are, then they'll accept you regardless. No matter if you're Ninya the boy or Ninya the girl, you're still the young determined mage that is part of the Swords of Darkness and a silver-plate in the Adventurer's Guild." I ruffled Ninya's hair after I said this. "Really, the only difference now is that you have boobs."

I was pleased to see a smile grow on Ninya after I said this. "You seem to have a strange habit of cracking jokes when you're trying to be serious." Ninya replied as she tried to pat her messy hair back into its normal style.

"I find it hard to be serious when life is already serious enough. You need a bit of humor spice things up, otherwise the world would be a much duller place." I answered while taking a sip of my tea, "But I still need your answer on if you'd like to tell the others about your gender or to leave it hidden? They'll need to know about Tuare after all."

Ninya was quiet for a few moments as she thought about this. She looked between me and Tuare, as if trying to see what opinions our expressions might give her. Then, finally, she answered, "I think that it's time that they know. I've been hiding this from the others for too long and they deserve to know the truth behind everything now that Tuare's been rescued."

I nodded at the answer, and internally, I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride well up at the mature decision the girl had made. "Then, I'll go fetch them and bring the guys back here. This is something that should be discussed in private and there's no place better than the sanctuary." I stood up, and was about to leave, when I stopped and looked at Tuare.

Ninya had given Tuare her own tunic, leaving herself in only a simple cloth shirt. While the tunic provided the blonde some modesty, it would probably be embarrassing to meet others in just that. "Tuare, here's something that I think would make you feel better when meeting new people." After saying this, I cast **[Create Greater Item]** and caused a set of clothing, similar to what I'd seen the girls of this town wear, right onto the table.

"We'll get you some more clothes later, but for now, that'll do." I said before either girl could begin asking questions. "Meepo, make a bit more tea for a few of our guests that will be coming soon."

"Meepo understands!" The kobold answered while I left the cabin and began walking to the exit of this realm. When I arrived at the door, I mentally gave Tuare permissions to open and close the door of the realm, then I exited back into my room at the inn.

Instead of just teleporting myself directly to the Adventurer's Guild, I decided to walk there for once. I had two reasons for this; the first reason was that I'm normally highly noticeable, and me walking back to the inn without having exited it with three people in tow would be very odd and suspicious. The other reason was because I wanted to give Tuare a bit of time to get dressed and clean herself up without having to rush.

Giving my room a quick inspection, I was satisfied to note that it didn't look too messy. The only things that prevent my room for having a pristine appearance was the unmade bed, the plates from the breakfast that the Veyron sisters and I had earlier, and the maps with a few bags of coins holding down the edges on my table.

Following this, I gathered the used plates together and then left the room while closing the door behind me. Then, I made my way to the bar where I could hear a larger amount of people had now arrived. To tell the truth, back in my world, the bars I went to were usually all packed with drunks and had terrible appearances due to chronic barfights, vomiting, and chemicals that got into the bar by clinging onto the patrons coming from outside.

The only good bars that were actually clean and devoid of the extreme alcoholics were for the rich and well-to-do, and that was because those bars could afford to hire bouncers and decent cleaners while the others couldn't. It was a bit odd to get used to how much cleaner the bars and inns were. Odder still, that the air was breathable without a filtering device.

When it came down to it, the most valuable thing that anyone could've owned on Earth was a filtration device to breathe outside. I'd seen people get mugged on the street for a cheap, low-end respirator because they were necessary to survive if you didn't have a house with a filtering system.

Sure, one could go without a filtering device, but they'd only go a week before the toxins and pollutants in the air irreversibly damaged their lungs. After two weeks, you'd be lucky to not die from choking on your own blood and mucus as it filled your lungs. Three weeks, you'd be getting buried, cremated, or eaten depending on where you died and if you had anyone that could even afford to bury you.

Typically, only the rich could afford the money for a coffin and a burial spot. Everyone else would be taken to an incinerator that was owned by the Travin Corporation. They made their money off the US through a mandatory tax of our paychecks that went to them. Those two options were considered lucky.

If no one picked up your body in time, then it'd be taken away by the poor or homeless to be eaten. I really wish that I'd never have to go back there since a week of living in this livable new world felt like an eternity from my toxic old world.

After arriving at the bar, I set the used dishes onto the counter in front of Morgan. "Here's your dishes, the food was great." I wasn't lying about the compliment; it was leagues better than the nutrient paste that I usually had to eat.

"You're the only person that's ever said that about my cooking. What sort of foul shit must you have eaten to consider giving my food a compliment?" The man joked as he took the dishes off the counter and set them next to a metal tub with water and rags in it.

"I've traveled for a long time. Most of the time, the rations I had tasted awful. Add in that I'm a terrible cook, and you'll understand why I find your food to be so much better than what I usually have. I hope that doesn't ruin the compliment?" I answered with an amused laugh.

Morgan shook his head with a smile, "Nah, it doesn't ruin the compliment. I still remember when I had to eat rations as a soldier, so to hear that my cooking is better than the pig shit that they fed us makes me feel happy that I'm not so bad a cook." He then grabbed a clean mug and filled it with some frothy ale before handing it over to me.

"What's this for?" I asked as I took the mug in hand.

"Consider it a thanks from me. You're one of the only people to compliment my cooking here, so this is my appreciation for that. In addition, rumor has it that you're a strong mage, so it would be a good idea to get into your good graces now if I ever need your help in the future." I raised an eyebrow at this as I quickly began to chug the offered drink down. I think that I even managed to surprise Morgan with the speed at which I finished the beverage before slamming the wooden mug down onto counter.

"I'll have to keep that remark in mind for the future." I replied as I wiped the lingering foam of the ale from my mouth. "I'll be back in a bit and you should probably try to pick your jaw up from the floor." I added before turning around and walking out the door.

* * *

Arriving to the guild took only fifteen minutes, yet I was slowed down when I noticed a sizable group of people entering the building. My curiosity was peaked at what manner of event was occurring inside to gather this type of crowd. Still, I needed to get inside to meet with the others, so I could probably find out about what was happening when I got inside. Killing two birds with one stone as it were.

It wasn't that difficult to make my way inside since by the time I had made it to the entrance of the guild, most of the initial crowd had finally made it inside, so that didn't slow me. The only annoyance that I truly faced was the stench coming from all these people being shoved together into one building.

It was extremely obvious to tell who hadn't bathed themselves or cleaned their gear. Easier still to tell who had just arrived from a job. Yet, I tried to break past this as I sniffed the air for the scent of my friends among the crowd. Luckily, I didn't need to when I hear a voice from the second floor call down to me.

"Hey, Kashia, we're up here!" The voice of Lukrut rang out. My ears quickly pinpointed the exact direction from where the voice came, and my eyes quickly met with Lukrut's brown orbs. I gave him a nod and pushed through the throngs of people and up the stairs to a space that the Swords of Darkness had claimed for themselves.

When I arrived, I joined up next to Lukrut leaning against the railing of the second floor. Across from us, Peter and Dyne gave me a welcoming grin. That was when I asked, "Can anyone explain why there are so many people here today?"

"I'm surprised that you didn't hear. Our guildmaster, Pluton Ainzach, announced to the guild that the Magician's Guild has made a request for silver-plate or higher adventurers to escort them through the Great Forest of Tob!" Lukrut answered excitedly.

"What's so special about that?" I asked. This fuss couldn't just be due to the Magician's Guild making a request, there had to be something more.

This was the point when Peter answered, "It's because they are offering five gold coins to each adventurer that takes on this job, and five more if all the mages come back alive. The amount of money that they are offering could feed a man for an entire year or pay for high quality equipment."

"That makes me even more curious as to why they are offering such a high payment to silver-plate adventurers, no offense. It's just that something about this job seems a bit suspicious."

"While your hesitation is understandable, there is a reason for their choice of price and adventurer rank." Dyne said sagely, "Normally, paying gold-plates for a simple escort mission is worth ten to fifteen gold since there are other jobs available that pay more and require less effort. For traversing a place like the Forest of Tob, that price would likely rise up to fifteen to twenty gold."

The large man then walked over to Lukrut and I and pointed down to the growing crowd of silver-plate adventurers, "A job like what is being offered now is called a pyrite mission. They offer a job that's high pay to silver-plates and low pay to gold-plates. This type of scheme attracts more interest and workers for a fraction of the price it would cost for a group of gold-plates."

I couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for the unready adventurers that would attempt this mission. There was likely a sizable number of adventurers here that absolutely needed this money but would likely die or become horribly injured for trying. "How often does this happen? And why hire a bunch of weaker people instead of a group that's stronger?"

"Quite a bit, especially if it's from lesser nobles. In comparison, hiring out a group of ten silver-plate adventurers for five gold on this job costs much less than hiring a group of five gold-plate adventurers for twenty. In a cynical way, it's even better because the group of silver-plates are more likely to lose a few members which means that they'll save on gold." Dyne seemed to give a tired sigh after this.

"The guild allows such practices to happen since they still receive a commission from whoever offers the job and it tends to weed out the weaker or greedier adventurers." Dyne let out humorless chuckle as he said this, "It's brilliant, really. When too many adventurers start filling the guild, more pyrite missions are given out to thin the herd, freeing up more missions for copper and silver-plates to take. This also has the added benefit of keeping the number of higher-ranking adventurers low."

Upon hearing this, my gaze looked between Lukrut and Peter, "Have any of you ever taken a pyrite mission?" Peter and Lukrut quickly looked away with guilt and embarrassment. "Wait, both of you have done obvious suicide missions before?" I asked in shock.

"It's really not as bad as you think, Kashia." Lukrut began with an apologetic tone, "I've done one pyrite mission before when I was much more inexperienced. Missions like these are a coinflip on if they are risky or not. The one I took was to guard a noble's hunting party. Nothing happened and I actually got to make some extra gold when I hunted a boar for a lazy knight."

"I wasn't as lucky." Peter stated, "I've only took two pyrites during my career. One was uneventful like Lukrut's, and I got to make a few connections with knights and a countess, while the other almost killed me. I've still got a scar near my heart when an assassin got in a lucky blow."

I wish that I could look serious by crossing my arms and giving the pair of idiots a disappointed look. Unfortunately, my boobs were too large to allow my arms to do that unless I crossed my arms under them, which would severely hinder said serious appearance. Instead, I had to put them on my hips and give the two a stern gaze.

"While I'm here, I severely hope that the pair of you don't do anything stupidly dangerous like that unless I'm there to make sure that you can't get yourselves killed, _understand_?" I didn't know what was stranger, the nervous submission that filled the air around us or that I was acting like a concerned mother.

"Your concern is appreciated, but I have no wish to die until I'm old and fat, not from dying young on a job. I'm very careful about which jobs I pick out for us to do since enough adventuring groups die because they chose jobs above their skill level." Peter answered. I'm happy to note that his answer was something that I expected as he was mature enough to know his limits. I wouldn't be worried about the jobs that all the others took because I knew that they'd be safe as long as I was there to bail them out of any potential trouble.

It was what occurred next that I didn't expect. In a moment, Lukrut grabbed both of my hands and held them together in his while his face moved until it was only a few centimeters away from mine. I could feel a blush begin to grow on my face, partially from embarrassment and partially for some reason that I couldn't explain.

"My beautiful sorceress, I have complete faith that you'll be there to protect me. I only ask that you honor me with your trust to keep you safe as well." If this was a romance movie, I'm pretty sure that Lukrut would've kissed me at this point. Though, he did seem tempted to do so. In addition, from this close, I found myself surprised that I'd never noticed how hawk-like his eyes were which gave him a bit of an exotic and predatory vibe. _It's kind of a bit attractive. _

Hearing this thought immediately gave me pause. Why did I just think that? For a while now, I've been worried about my new body was changing my mind. While being able to vent to my clone last night helped push these worries down, hearing this echo from my own mind frightened me. What was happening to me and should I even fight against these new thoughts or accept them? My expression must've given something away as Lukrut's eyes became filled with concern.

"Kashia, are you okay? Was it something I said?" The blond archer asked. Quickly hiding the worry on my face, I gave Lukrut a smile.

"No, it's nothing to do with what you said. Your words were actually quite sweet even if unneeded since I've already placed my trust in you to be there in my time of need." Upon saying this, Lukrut looked like he was about to hit cloud 9. "I was simply thinking about something else at the moment, which also reminded me that I came to the guild today for quite a different reason than a job, it actually involves Ninya." When I gave mention of Ninya's name, all three of my teammates became very interested.

"What about Ninya? Did something bad happen?" Peter asked quickly.

"No, it wasn't anything bad, in fact, something amazing happened yesterday. I'll let Ninya explain if you're all willing to follow me." I answered, giving relief to the trio of worried adventurers before me. "In addition, you'll also get to see some interesting things today, so keep those feelings of awe in the back of your minds."

"Of course, we'll follow you. Just lead the way to Ninya." Peter answered for the group. With this, I was about to walk away when I was stopped because Lukrut's hands were still entwined into mine. I gave him a questioning glace, and he replied with a shy grin and a guilty look. Seems like the man still wanted to hold my hands, though I'll give him credit for the attempt as he only failed because I was able to notice.

With a roll of my eyes, I gave the man a mischievous grin before freeing up one of my hands and gently squeezing his hand with my other. The look of surprise on the archer's face was hilariously adorable as I lead him after me through the crowd of adventurers and out of the guild. Even without my enhanced hearing, I would've been able to hear the snickering coming from Peter and Dyne as they followed after us.

Eventually, the four of us exited the building and arrived onto the street and started to head off to the Heroes' Respite. The entire way, Lukrut and I walked hand in hand, and the blond archer looked so giddy as we did. It was from behind us that I managed to pick up on a conversation between Peter and Dyne.

"Two silver says that Lukrut won't say any a coherent sentence when we get to Ninya." Peter bet in amusement with a jingle of coins.

"I'll take those odds. Double says that he'll end up embarrassing himself while we're talking with Ninya." Dyne retorted.

"Agreed." Then Peter added, "Ever wonder if all the women in Kashia's land wear clothing similar to hers? I mean, the exposure of her hips is very flattering, just makes me wish that more women dressed like that."

"You realize that Lukrut has interest in her along with her being a friend and teammate of ours?" Dyne remarked in amusement.

"I know, I'm just wondering about her clothing and culture. Besides, there's the girl that works at the guild who I've got my eye on." Wait, Peter has interest in a girl? That's very interesting…

"Is it the red-haired secretary that works at the front desk? Her name's Helena, right?"

"Yeah. We've talked quite often and I think that she's into me since she's personally given me some good job requests that were easy and paid well. She's the reason that we were able to get that estate job two weeks ago."

Dyne hummed with interest, "I thought that it was strange that we snagged that job before anyone else could. The reward would've assured that it'd have been gone before we arrived at the guild that morning. If she's showing such an obvious interest in you, why haven't you done anything about it?"

"I just don't know how to ask her. It doesn't seem appropriate to ask her while she's working, yet she also is gone by the time that we typically arrive back to the guild after a job. In addition, I'm skilled with fighting and leading, not romancing women. That's Lukrut's specialty, though his history with women doesn't give credence to said skill."

"He's managed to earn Kashia's interest, but I attribute that more to Kashia's playful nature than to Lukrut's romance skills." Dyne was correct on that account. Teasing Lukrut was becoming a favored pastime of mine, _but there were qualities of the man that were_ _attractive_. "Now, there's an easy way to get a moment to talk with Helena if you're open to try it…"

"Well?" Peter asked quickly with desperation, "Don't keep it a secret, I'm willing to try almost anything at this point! There's only so long that Helena is going to wait before losing interest."

"Fine, fine," The bearded man relented with a chuckle, "What you need to do is either ask Helena to wait for you after work or decline a job for a day so that you can wait for Helena to finish work. It's pretty simple and I'm surprised that you haven't figured it out."

"Really, it's that simple?"

"Of course. An even easier way to ask her out is to just ask her while she's working. Keep in mind that when a woman likes a man, a good way to ensure that their interest remains is when the man actually gathers up the courage to ask them out instead of remaining passive." I could hear Dyne patting Peter on the shoulder after saying this.

"I'll try. Though I can't help but wonder where in the hell you managed to learn how to romance women?"

"Just remember, before we met, I used to travel to many villages and while I was a teenager I mastered the ability to talk to women for…private encounters. I grew out of it a few years later, but I'm not too out of practice to still remember how to be romantic." Well, well, well…It appears that there's more behind the large, sagely, druid than meets the eye. I'll have to ask more about Dyne's past on a later date.

"I'll see what I can do tomorrow. I'll definitely ask her tomorrow." The swordsman said with determination. I'd have to keep my eyes out for Peter's attempt, as well as the potential embarrassment that may follow.

* * *

When we arrived at the inn, I stopped holding Lukrut's hand, much to his audible disappointment. Yet, it still didn't prevent the archer from dogging after me like a puppy. In addition, Peter spoke up after this occurred, "Hey, Lukrut, how are you doing right now?"

"Uh, whu-I'm uh fine." Peter and Dyne shared a conspiratorial look with one another as they tried to contain their smirks at the archer's dazed speech pattern. As much as I wanted to continue watching Peter and Dyne mess with Lukrut, Ninya and Tuare had been waiting long enough for us.

With a sad heart, I broke up the interaction between the three, "Okay, we can continue teasing Lukrut later. We can't stall showing Ninya our amazing presence any longer. Now, come on." Saying this, I pulled open the door to the inn and stepped inside as the others followed me. The first thing I noticed was Morgan giving me an acknowledging nod before returning to his usual activity of cleaning tankards and mugs.

How spotless did those things need to be before the man would consider them free of all contamination? At this rate, it seemed like he cleaned those things, not out of an obligation to keep a healthy establishment but instead as an ingrained muscle response. If that cup was missing from his hands, would he continue to mime out the action?

I could already tell that this would bother me until I finally tried to test this theory out. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow?

"You know, I've been to this place a few times," Peter remarked, "yet I've never seen this many people in here before. Did it get very popular recently?" I couldn't exactly answer that question since I've only been living in the inn for a few days. Though, I did spot that people had been coming more often nevertheless, I just assumed that it was due to business picking up throughout the week.

It was when people started giving me attention that I wished for us to hurry the party to my room. While the attention was fun, it came to a head when I felt someone grope my ass. Almost instinctually, one of my hidden tails wrapped itself around the wrist of the offending hand. "Did your mother never teach you manners in how to properly treat a lady?" I asked as the pervert tried to pull his hand away, yet my tail was too strong for him to pull against.

"What the hell?" He whispered in surprise. Following this, I had my tail squeeze around the wrist like a python, not hard enough to break the bones in the wrist, but hard enough to cause a bit of pain. I then turned to look at the nervous looking young man, who even now, I could smell his inebriated condition from his breath. Adding to this effect, I mustered an illusion to cause my eyes to lightly glow.

This additional affect did an adequate job in scaring the piss out of the pervert, "I've not given you permission to grope me. This is your only warning, do so again and I'll be keeping this hand that you seem to want to gift to me. Are we clear?" For emphasis, I applied a little more pressure on the wrist which earned a wince of pain on the pervert's features.

"Y-Yes, ma'am. U-Understood." I finally freed my grip on the pervert's wrist. That said, my teammates gave me impressed looks while other patrons who may have had similar ideas as the pervert quickly looked away from me as if I wouldn't notice them.

"Good thing that Lukrut isn't that stupid." Peter commented.

"Huh? What?" Said archer asked while still retaining the dazed tone of before.

"Nothing, Lukrut, nothing at all." Following this display of "camaraderie" we hastily traveled through the crowd and out of the tavern and into the hallway of the inn. Upon arriving at the door to my room, I pulled it open and ushered the trio inside. When the three made it inside, I followed after them and shut the door behind me.

The trio looked around the room in confusion due to the area being empty of anyone besides us. Surprisingly, it was Lukrut that spoke first after finally coming down from his trip in cloud 9, "Umm, where is Ninya? This place seems completely empty, unless she's hiding in that closet next to us." I found it amusing that calling my sanctuary a closet was an extremely apt description of how I treated it. Even more amusing was the groan of disappointment that came from Peter as he handed off a pair of coins to Dyne.

"You're more correct than you think, _Lucky_." I answered with the archer's nickname as I gave the trio permissions to open the door, "Why don't you take a look inside?" Confused but also curious, Lukrut followed my advice and pulled open the door. It was a moment later when I wished that I had some form of camera to take a picture of the looks of shock and awe that my friends had upon seeing the massive interior garden of the sanctuary.

"I-Is that real?" Lukrut asked as he tentatively reached a hand through the doorway, as if expecting that he'd feel the canvas of a painting.

Walking past the three slack-jawed men, I said while stepping foot into the sanctuary, "This is completely real. It's from a spell that I'm able to cast that creates a pocket realm. I'll explain more behind the context of it later, but for now, Ninya's been waiting inside long enough."

I continued walking towards the cabin in the center of the garden, yet I could still feel the doubt radiating off the trio. It wasn't until Dyne spoke that the group became a bit calmer, "I may not know that much about the magic that conjured this, but I can feel that all the plants inside are real and alive." With confidence in his steps, the large druid entered my realm and followed.

After Dyne, Peter and Lukrut accompanied the large man and entered the realm while inspecting the realm with awe. "Hurry up, slowpokes!" I called after them, pulling their attentions back to me as they hurried their pace. In no time at all, we arrived before the cabin and I opened the door and went inside.

The sight that the four of us were greeted to was Ninya sitting that the table with a now dressed Tuare as the pair drank tea. Aside from them, Meepo stood upon a stool next to the oven as he worked on his batch of tea in the kettle.

"Hey everyone, it's good to see you all!" Ninya greeted happily as the four of us went inside. While I went to take a seat at the table, the other three just continued to stand near the cabin's entrance as they didn't fully know what to do seeing as this entire place was a bit out of their depth to comprehend.

"When did you learn about this place, Ninya? It seems so unreal…" Peter asked sheepishly.

"Yesterday. Kashia showed it to me because of why I needed to meet with you guys today." The mage answered as she took a sip of tea. Although, as Dyne and Peter's eyes were focused on Ninya, Lukrut's had taken the time to investigate the room along with Meepo and Tuare.

"Before you explain that, could you also tell us who the other girl and the kobold are?" The archer asked with great curiosity.

"Actually, she is why you're here," Ninya answered as she motioned to Tuare. The blonde girl started to become a bit nervous at all the attention she was receiving, yet she did an admirable job in hiding her feelings from the others, "I'd like to introduce all of you to my older sister, Tuareninya Veyron."

"What?!" The trio of males shouted together.

"But your sister was taken. How did you find her? Did she escape? How did she find you if she did? What-" As much as the questions were understandable, we wouldn't get anywhere with the motor mouth of Lukrut's.

"I can explain that part." I interrupted, "Until yesterday, Tuare had indeed been enslaved to a former group of horrid people. Using a tracking spell, I located Tuare and teleported with Ninya to her location. After healing Tuare and sending her and Ninya back to my room at the inn, I made sure to destroy the establishment and all the _monsters_ inside." Even now, I found it hard to even call the things who visited and knowingly worked at that brothel as anything close to human. Regardless, I tried to keep the explanation in an abridged form, especially because no one needed to know what happened to the poor girl.

"Wait, Kashia," Peter said as his mind tried to compartmentalize all this information, "you're telling us that you managed to find Ninya's sister in just a day?"

"She did, I could hardly believe it even while witnessing everything with my own eyes." Ninya chimed in. Peter just sighed while rubbing his temple, as if in the vain hope that this would be the most shocking thing he learned today. "Would you guys like to sit down? This'll probably be a long explanation and it'd be easier if you were sitting."

"Can't keep standing forever." Dyne chimed in, "Besides, I'd enjoy a cup of tea since it smells delicious from over here." Soon after, the large druid joined the sisters and I at the table.

"Meepo, mind preparing a few cups for us?" I politely asked.

"Certainly, mistress! Meepo's kept the tea at a perfect temperature in preparation for your return!" With greater strength than his small body portrayed, the kobold lifted the metal kettle of tea from the stove along with some cups that were hung from the horns on his head and hopped down from the stool he was standing on. Then, he dragged the stool with him across the floor and to the table before hopping up onto it and then onto the table. As he waddled over to Dyne, Meepo removed a cup that was hanging off one of his horns and poured tea into it before handing it to Dyne.

"I'm quite surprised at seeing a well-mannered kobold. Typically, they are quite violent and limited in their intelligence aside from making traps." Dyne remarked as he began to sip from the cup.

"Meepo Breepo be Meepo's name. Meepo is a great craftsman who's been honored to employ his abilities in service to the mistress. Meepo would never tarnish the great one's presence by acting like a savage kobold." The little kobold said with immense pride. If Meepo was much taller, and his voice didn't sound so squeaky, it'd actually be quite an impressive display. Unfortunately, that display of devotion was just adorable.

"I see. No doubt, the story behind how you and Kashia met will prove to be quite fascinating, you'll have to tell us later." Dyne replied politely, "The tea you made is also quite delicious." All the while that Dyne had been conversing with Meepo, Peter and Lukrut had managed to quietly pull up a pair of chairs to the table which they sat in. Meepo, ever attentive, poured tea into a pair of cups that he handed off to the pair of fighters.

It was at this point that Peter stopped holding his expression of chronic confusion since arriving in my realm, and instead he looked at Tuare with a smile. "Sorry if we're being impolite. All of us are still just trying to process everything that we're seeing right now." The swordsman apologized sheepishly, "My name's Peter Mauk and I'm the unofficial leader of our group. It's a pleasure to meet you, Tuare."

"Greetings, I'm Dyne Woodwonder. Just an average druid." I wanted to call bullshit about that remark, but I held my opinion to myself.

"And lastly is me, Lukrut Volve, archer and world-renowned master of romance."

"Yeah right," Peter interrupted, "I have yet to see the famous skillset that you supposedly have."

Lukrut glared at Peter, "For your information, that's because my large heart, and all the love that it contains, has been captured by another. My days of seducing the hearts of lovely maidens everywhere has ended now that I've found the love of my life!" The cringeworthy sappiness of Lukrut's declaration made me want to melt in my chair in embarrassment.

"That doesn't explain your previous month of getting rejected by all the girls you asked out." Peter retorted.

"Fate simply wished for me to hold my love for when Kashia arrived in E-Rantel." Two things occurred when Lukrut said this, the first was that Tuare looked at me with the scary look of a matchmaker. I didn't think that anything could cause me to shiver in fear until I saw the look in her eyes. The second was that Meepo pulled out a metal rod with a jewel at the tip which he pointed at Lukrut's face.

"Are you saying that you are courting the mistress!? Tell Meepo if you've ever sullied the mistress' honor!" The kobold demanded like he was an overprotective father. Lukrut cried out in surprise before raising his hands above his head in surrender.

"Yes, I'm courting Kashia! I promise that I've not done anything to sully her honor, far from it, I'd never do something like that! Just don't kill me!" The archer quickly replied to the slowly glowing jewel in his face. Meepo looked over to me for confirmation.

As amusing as this turn of events was, I needed to break it up before Meepo maimed or killed Lukrut, "He's telling the truth. Lukrut's been quite the gentleman and would never attempt to sully my honor. He also has my permission to attempt to court me. You can let him go." My words swayed Meepo as he slowly lowered the wand from Lukrut's face and shoved it back into a hiding place in his robe.

"Meepo will accept the mistress' words, but he's not finished with his discussion with the lusty human stick-shooter." I almost spat out the tea that I was drinking when I heard Lukrut's new title. Peter had no such qualms as he started laughing his ass off at Lukrut's expense. "Meepo's got his eyes on you." The kobold then gave Lukrut the 'I'm watching you' gesture with his hand as he hopped off the table and back onto his stool. From then on, the kobold's attention never broke from watching every single movement of the archer.

Following this, I spotted Peter reach into his pocket and pull out four silver coins from his pocket before sliding them over to the triumphant Dyne. Attempting to get a handle on the meeting before something else ended up distracting us, I said, "Spontaneous outburst aside, the next part of the discussion is the plan for the group going forwards."

"How do you _mean_?" Lukrut's voice dipped a bit when his eyes spotted Meepo threatening him by poking the glowing head of his wand out from the dark recesses of his robe.

"While Tuare has been rescued, she doesn't have a job and Ninya's room at the inn she's staying at can't fit them both. Ninya and I discussed this earlier, as neither she nor Tuare want to live separately, and the solution I came up with is that they'll live in my sanctuary realm. It's got a lot of space and it'll free up money for Ninya to use elsewhere." I explained.

"So, it's actually possible to live in this place." Dyne said to himself, "I'm not the most knowledgeable about magic of this area, but wouldn't keeping a realm like this use up a lot of mana from the caster?"

"No, the only cost is what I used to initially create this pocket realm. It will sustain itself permanently while also holding a lot of space within it. That's the reason that it's a perfect place for Ninya and Tuare to stay for as long as they'd like."

"How else could we help out? We're all willing take a cut of job pay if it'll help out Tuare." Peter stated while the others nodded in agreement.

"Actually, if Tuare is interested in a job, I could ask my cousin if she has an opening in her restaurant. She's always interested in getting more waitresses to work at her place since the place can get pretty packed without enough staff." Lukrut remarked, which wasn't that bad of an idea, now that I think about it. Tuare probably needed to train up her social skills and being a waitress was a good way of doing so.

"Tuare, would that interest you?" I asked the blonde girl, "It's your decision, so you don't have to say yes if you don't want to." Tuare gave the idea some thought before nodding her head.

"I'd like to try it. I can't stay away from the world forever and I'd like to help out you and Ninya. I'll feel like a burden if I'm not able to help out." A respectable answer on Tuare's end.

"Then it's settled. After we finish up, I'll go talk to my cousin and see what she can do." Lukrut stated with a confident tone. It looks like everything was working out. If Lukrut's unable to get a job from Celty, then I can always have Tuare help out Meepo in selling excess potions and items that are stored here.

"Great. Will Ninya need any help moving his things out of the other inn?" Peter inquired while sipping his cup.

"Kashia'll be helping me, so it's covered. But that isn't the only thing I wanted to tell you guys…" Ninya trailed off nervously as she considered her next words.

"What is it Ninya? You kind of stopped telling us." Lukrut asked. The conflict of what Ninya wanted to say caused creases to form on her brow.

"Guys, I consider all of you my best friends and because you're my friends, it's been extremely hard to keep a secret of mine from all of you. Please, promise you won't be angry with me for what I tell you next, because I couldn't bear to lose any of you over something like this…" The begging in Ninya's voice was full of desperation and fear of rejection. I just hoped that Ninya understood that even if the others rejected her, which I could bet my life wouldn't happen, I would still be there to help her out.

"Ninya, I promise, we won't be angry with you." Dyne reassured the girl with that sagely tone of his, "Just tell us what it is that's troubling you so much. We're always here to help you if you want it."

The young mage let out a deep breath and gave a wavering smile, "Tuare is my sister…and I'm her sister as well." Dyne was the first to pick up on what Ninya admitted, and strangely enough, he looked like this reveal wasn't all that new. Instead, he gave her a proud, knowing smile. It was a second later when Peter's eyes finally widened in surprise until he finally settled to chuckling.

"Wait! You're actually a girl!?" Lukrut shouted in realization and amazement as he started inspecting the girl, then comparing her between Tuare and myself. "But…how…what…I'm just…"

"Looks like we broke Lukrut again. Also, here's a silver I owe you." Following this, Peter flipped a coin into the archer's lap. Yet, Lukrut was so deep in though that he didn't even register the money. His eyes looked like they were focusing on a ball in a tennis match with how often they'd go back and forth.

"Uh, mind explaining that?" I asked.

"It's just a running bet that Lukrut and I have. If we recruit a guy into the group, I get a silver, and if we get a girl then Lukrut gets a silver." Peter then looked at Ninya in mock anger, "Dammit Ninya, I'm losing so much money today because of you." He then burst out into laughter which helped lighten the mood at the table.

"Y-You're okay with me being a girl?" Ninya asked hesitantly.

"Of course we are, Ninya, though I believe that Lukrut's reevaluating his life at the moment, so we can just ignore him at the moment. You're our friend which is something that hasn't changed. It does explain a few things, like how you never roomed with us when the offer was available."

"You always wore baggy clothes that obscured your bodyshape." Dyne remarked.

Surprisingly, and of course it would be now when Lukrut would come out of his existential mini-coma, "You also never swam in the rivers or ponds we stopped by when we would."

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Lucky. How was the nap?" I teased.

"Ha ha, very funny." Lukrut answered sarcastically, "This is a large fireball that you've dropped on us, but I can understand why you did it since dressing like a man is less likely to get you attacked on the road then a woman." That was…surprisingly mature for Lukrut. Did he get replaced by a shapeshifter while we weren't looking? "I just can't help but ask why you didn't tell us sooner? You didn't have to hide that from us."

Ninya looked away sheepishly when given the question, "I'm not really sure…I had been hiding my gender for so long that it just seemed normal. And after I became friends with all of you, I was afraid that you would all hate me and kick me out of the group." Lukrut got up from his chair and walked around the table, as he did, Meepo had his hand inside his robe like he had a gun hidden inside.

Finally, Lukrut grabbed Ninya in a headlock and started to playfully give the girl a noogie much to her protests. "Come on! Stop it, Lukrut!"

"Nah, squirt. I've gotta pay you back for keeping things from us." Lukrut responded while laughing. I gave an unladylike snort at the display and leaned back into my chair. "Girl or not, I'll still treat you like before because you're still the Ninya I've gotten to know." He then temporarily stopped giving the girl a noogie and added, "Besides, if you left, then I would lose the little sibling that I love to mess with!"

Ninya's eyes widened at hearing the archer's declaration, "Wait, you think of me as a sibling?"

"Of course I do, squirt." Following this, he resumed the noogie while Ninya complained and tried to hold his hand still. Lukrut broke the headlock and instead wrapped his arm across Ninya's chest to keep her arms pinned down, all the while laughing like a loon. Dyne and Peter both laughed at the display before they got out of their seats and came over to Lukrut and Ninya before tackling them both.

For the next few minutes, an impromptu wrestling match broke out among the four while Tuare and I sat back and watched the event. Then, the sound of, "YIIIIII!" And Meepo jumped into the piled of wrestling adventurers, and more specifically, at Lukrut.

"You know, I'm glad that Ninya has such good friends that took care of her when I couldn't. It's good to see that she wasn't alone all this time." Tuare remarked with a hint of disappointment in her voice. It was easy to tell that Tuare was upset that she wasn't there for Ninya, and possibly a bit jealous of the bond that the young mage had made with her friends. I gave the girl a reassuring pat on the shoulder as we watched on.

"Just because you weren't there for a few years in Ninya's life doesn't mean that you can't be there for the rest. Life has its ups and downs, and while you lived the last few years at rock bottom, the only place you can go now is up." Tuare looked at me with a gaze akin to recognition.

"It's easy to see why Ninya feels so comfortable around you. You remind me of our mom. She had blonde hair like yours and she always could say something that cheered us up." I felt a blush growing on my face at the compliment. But it was also followed by a mixture of happiness and dread. I liked the idea of being a mom, yet I was scared at how easily I enjoyed being called a mom instead of a dad.

"I'm honored that you'd think of me like that, Tuare. I'll do my best to respect the memory of your mother." I promised which I had no intention of breaking.

"You don't need to go that far. Just keep being you, that's all I could ask, and it's all that Ninya needs."

"Then, I promise to do my best."

"Thank you."

* * *

**Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I hope to see all of you again, soon. Stay safe out there with everything that's happening. Next chapter's main perspective is from Zaryusu, so I'll see you then.**

**Stay Frosty My Friends.**


	12. Chapter 11

**A Vulpine Spanner in the Works**

**Chapter 11: Lizards Walk, Foxes Talk, Wizards Squawk**

**[Zaryusu]**

Awakening this morning was quite an experience for me. For starters, I had found myself covered in sticky saliva as my hydra, Rororo, had felt that I'd been sleeping for too long. It was a surprise to find all of Rororo's heads licking me awake, especially because hydra saliva had a lingering smell that took some time to wash off.

"Really?" I groaned out as I pushed the excited heads of the hydra away from me. Unfortunately, he continued to lather me in his saliva until I actually sat up from my bed. "Rororo, I'm up already." After a bit more licking, Rororo finally seemed satisfied by my lucidity and pulled his heads out from the opening that connected my house and Rororo's living quarters to one another.

It was still odd to consider that this large building was my house. I had been used to living in a simple wooden shack and in comparison, this house was a rich mansion in comparison. It had been created by Kashia using her magic to command the very ground itself to form this building. There were four rooms in this house, with my bedroom, a main room, a kitchen, and a guest room. Connected to my room was a small building that acted as Rororo's hut.

In addition, my new home had been built right next to the lake. I found this to be immensely convenient since I was able to create my fishery right next to my house. Speaking of the fishery, with Kashia's aid, I was able to have a fishery created inside a building that mitigated many of the flaws my original fishery had.

One of the largest flaws of my original fishery was that predators, like birds or bears, could easily steal fish since the netting could be torn and the lack of a roof allowed birds access to the trapped fish. The design that Kashia implemented was quite intriguing since from an outside perspective, the fishery appeared to be a long stone building that had been built on a pier over the lake.

Yet, underneath the building, fencing made of stone and metal was molded between each support pillar that kept the fishery above the water and contained the fish within the building. Currently, 50 fish resided within the fishery and a few of them had already mated with one another. I felt very excited since I could easily see my tribe being fed for an entire year without Kashia's magic with four more of these fisheries constructed and running. The only downside that I could see currently was when winter came and it was something I still had to work out, but I figured that if we created a stockpile of fish and had Kashia use her enlarging magic upon them, then the issue would become a moot point.

My fishery aside, I had also been immensely interested in watching this settlement grow and advance. Before coming here, if I'd been told that goblins could farm then I'd have laughed the idea off as completely absurd. This had been changed after seeing the fields that the goblins had been seeding. Even more incredulous were the ogres and trolls that we're being civil and putting their strength to use, either by acting as guards for the settlement or by aiding the goblins with farming. I even saw a few constructing buildings…with supervision.

With a stretch, I stood up from my bed and traversed through my house until I arrived at my kitchen. I wasn't fully attuned to the idea of a stove as I was used to cooking food over a fire, but I was finding myself growing to the idea of a salting barrel that had been very useful in preserving the fish that I caught two days ago. In my village, salt was hard to acquire and would normally be used on only the largest fish to preserve them for later seasons.

Here though, I had an easy to access barrel filled with salt which would've been like owning a barrel of gold back in my village. This was a luxury that I enjoyed using, especially because I had learned after exploring the village that there were many houses with salting barrels for the inhabitants. I could only assume that Kashia had used her magic to create it, as I had no clue otherwise as to how she may have acquired such an amount of salt.

Opening the lid of the barrel, I pulled out a fish for myself and three for Rororo. Then, I closed the barrel and took the fish with me as I left my house and shut the door behind me. It was outside here that I was greeted to an excitable hydra waiting for me out the door.

I couldn't help but smirk as I tossed three of the fish to Rororo and watched as his heads darted and competed with one another to eat each the fish. "Hungry today, aren't you? Well, you don't need to fight for the food, it's all going to the same stomach." I remarked as I started taking bites out of my breakfast.

While eating, I left Rororo to his breakfast and walked to the fishery building for the daily inspection. When I arrived at the fishery, I opened the door and entered a room lit by lamps that contained magical fire that wouldn't go out. The room itself was mostly a pool with walkways on the edges of the room.

Typically, my daily inspection of the fishery involved checking if the fencing was intact, whether there were any fish that had died, and if they had a healthy appearance. Looking in the water, I couldn't see any corpses floating in the water or skeletons that had sunk to the bottom. In addition, all of the fish had a healthy shade of color.

Feeling satisfied with how the fish looked, I walked to a barrel in the corner of the room and popped it open. Inside was a mixture of grain and corn which I scooped out with my hand and scattered into the water and watched as the once calm movements of fish in the water became fast and erratic as they rushed to eat the grain and corn. I did this a few more times until I felt that there was enough food floating about the water before I closed the barrel and left the fishery.

Completing this daily ritual, I finally walked to the edge of the fishery and jumped into the lake water. Swimming in the water, I began to clean off all the saliva, and the smell that came with it, from my body which took some time. I still haven't been able to discover anything that made cleaning off hydra saliva any easier.

While washing myself, I spotted Rororo from the corner of my vision trotting over to me. I really hoped that Rororo didn't get it into his head to start licking me again, else my efforts to clean myself would become useless. Disappointingly, the hydra seemed very playful today as he charged into the water which created a large splash.

"Okay, you can calm down, big guy." I told the excited hydra as he snaked one of his heads between my legs and lifted me up from the water. "While I know you want to play, it's kind of interfering with my ability to clean the mess you covered me in." I said with a laugh and patted Rororo's heads as they pressed themselves against my body for attention.

"Rororo, you are so greedy for my attention. If someone else saw this, they might almost think that I ignore you all the time." Saying this, I pointed to the shore which caused Rororo to start walking us out of the water. People might think that hydras aren't that smart due to how often their heads can fight with one another, but they tend to forget that hydras have more than one brain to rely on. Teaching Rororo to move to specific places based on hand signals was quite easy.

When we arrived on dry land, I slid off Rororo and patted him on the side. "I'm going to be going into the village for a while. While I'm gone, I want you to stay here," I specifically pointed to the ground while saying this, "play, and don't get into trouble." I remained impassive when the hydra gave me a sad look that was an attempt to guilt me.

"Nope, you aren't convincing me with those eyes. Stay right here." Rororo's heads gave me a sad hiss before the hydra finally laid down on the ground in defeat. With that, I quickly walked away before Rororo finally guilted me into taking him with me.

As I walked to the main hub of the village, I couldn't help but think about the events that occurred yesterday. Kashia had saved a bunch of people from a sex den and brought them here to recover. I was a bit surprised when Kashia had asked me to help bring the new visitors some food, but I was highly willing to aid her. It was the right thing to do and as a representative of my tribe, I needed to make a good impression to everyone here.

In addition to the new guests that were brought here, I had also spotted a few goblins and ogres that had recently joined the village. From what I learned, word was being spread, both near us and in the Forest of Tob, about Kashia's village. It wasn't surprising to see others willing to so easily join this settlement. After all, non-humans were mostly discriminated against in this part of the world.

While elves and dwarves had it slightly easier due to how similar to humans they were in comparison to other races, other races didn't have it that easy. The only places nearby that were good to non-humans was the Dwarf Kingdom, yet that only really applied to dwarves, the Elf Kingdom, same as the Dwarf Kingdom but with elves, and the Argland Council State.

Of these three places, the Dwarf Kingdom was probably the easiest to reach without encountering humans, that didn't necessarily mean that the terrain was easy to cross. Next would be the Argland Council State, yet the hinderance with traveling there was one would need to traverse the Re-Estize Kingdom, and that was full of risk since, while not as racially intolerant as the Slane Theocracy, it still was filled with enough intolerant humans.

Finally, going to the Elf Kingdom was absolute suicide. Getting there would require traversing the Slane Theocracy and they had a policy of either killing or enslaving all non-humans. So, Kashia's settlement being located so close to the Forest of Tob and in the middle of all these hostile places was a safe haven to any demi-human that live nearby.

It also helped that Kashia is a kind ruler who was often involved with the subjects of this village. Her godly power was another factor, but I found her strength as secondary to her personality. Especially because most who had her power would act like tyrants, yet she preferred to give others a choice. Honestly, I'm both worried and relieved that she hasn't tried to take over the Re-Estize Kingdom yet.

As I walked through the village, I heard a voice call out my name, "Hey, Zary! Wait up!" I stopped and looked around until I spotted the small hobgoblin known as Trabgo run up to me. "You're finally awake, didn't expect to see you coming into the village this early." For some odd reason, Trabgo had become a close companion since I arrived here. I think part of it was due to my size and that I was a decent fighter in the arena.

"Greetings, Trabgo. You seem to be in a bit of a rush this morning. Any reason as to why?" The hobgoblin finally slowed down and caught his breath when he reached my side. Then, he finally looked up at me with a frantic energy.

"Just came from spreading the news to everyone else. A lot of things happened this morning that is causing the boys and others to talk! The Fox Lady finally gave the village a name. We're called Haven-Lake now." While it was important to know the new name of this village, I had doubts that it fully warranted the effort it had taken to spread this message around.

"Is that all you wanted to tell me?" I asked with a smirk.

Trabgo shook his head before adding, "There is more, Zary! The Fox Lady has taken in some of the humans, elves, and half-elves that were brought in yesterday! Muap and I have been going around the village all morning to let everyone know."

That was interesting. The addition of humans would very likely cause changes within the power dynamics of the village. Currently, while everyone followed and obeyed Kashia to the best of their abilities, and obeyed any leaders that she appointed, there was still a hierarchy of strength, mainly enforced by the orcs and trolls. Even if only the orcs and trolls followed this hierarchy, it still affected how they interacted with others. With the goblins and hobgoblins being the physically weakest beings here, adding humans and elves would shift the goblins and hobgoblins even lower in the hierarchy that had been implemented.

"How have the others been taking the news?" I asked in interest.

"Some of the boys are nervous about bringing in humans. They've only ever dealt with humans on bad terms, so they have reservations about the whole situation. Others, like Larha, think that the humans will be helpful, especially in giving them an appearance of strength." Trabgo replied as he started walking, causing me to follow after him.

"I doubt that you or they'll have much to worry about. Kashia has been good at keeping everything under control and the addition of humans, elves, and half-elves isn't going to change that." I said in an attempt to reassure the highly-strung hobgoblin.

"What makes you think that I'm worried, Zary? Really, I'm curious about how we've got people to cook now." I couldn't help but give Trabgo a questioning glance.

"Really, there are cooks now?"

"Well, one is a baker, and another is a cook." Trabgo then gave a suspicious glance around the area for potential listeners before adding, "I've never had fresh bread before and I'm interested in trying it." I chuckled at the hobgoblin's curiosity.

"Then it appears that it's your lucky day." I remarked while patting the hobgoblin on the back. "In other news, my fishery has been thriving since its development. No problems with the fish, which means that there will soon be fish on the menu."

"Really? It's only been two days since you started up that fish house. What makes you think that it's thriving?" Trabgo asked in curiosity. His question was understandable since from his point of view I've only started this project two days ago.

"This is the second fishery that I've helped design and run. With my first fishery, there were risks of the fish either being eaten or escaping. On average, I would expect to be missing one or two fish a day to predators. That, or one might find an opening in my fencing that they would use to escape out of. With the new fishery design that is being used, it prevents predators from attacking the fish and the stone fencing has less risks of openings being created. So, I'm proud to say that I haven't noticed any drop in the fish population." I answered with a bit of pride.

"You know better than me about the whole fish stuff." Trabgo said with a shrug, "I wish ya luck on that." Trabgo then tapped his finger on his head as if he was attempting to remember something. Finally, after a few more moments, Trabgo finally remembered what he wanted to say, "By the way, you joining in on the arena today? I've been hearing that the ogre named Dolg has been eyeing you up after your victory yesterday."

Yesterday had been a unique experience for me. I had learned about a small fighting arena that had been set up by the ogres and trolls, so I became interested in seeing it for myself. At first, I hadn't planned to enter as a fighter since I only wanted to spectate. After all, it wasn't every day that one got to watch ogres and trolls fighting one another without being on the receiving end of their massive fists. It was only from some convincing by Trabgo that I fought in one of the matches.

I considered it a learning experience as I rarely fought ogres due to the danger involved, and I have never fought a troll before. While ogres had great strength and size, they didn't compare to a troll. Trolls were typically larger and stronger with the addition of having a healing factor to back it up. An ogre could be taken down with attrition, but a troll couldn't, they'd just regenerate from the damage unless special precautions were used.

My match was against an ogre named Paz. While the fight had been tough, I managed to beat Paz by fighting safely and letting him tire himself out as he tried to attack me while I used my greater speed and smaller size to dodge his strikes. At the right moment, I struck Paz's exposed head which put him down, earning me the win.

While I can't confirm it, I had reason to suspect that the goblins were treating me like I was their warrior defender. I couldn't fully put my finger on it but there were moments where I thought that I could spot a few goblins making flags with my crude likeness. Yet, whenever I tried to investigate, they'd scatter from me with whatever evidence they had.

"Guess I'll keep my eyes out for him." I answered.

"I'll still be rooting for ya. So will the rest of the boys." I smiled at the encouragement. "Fighting aside, where are you heading off to? I'm certain that the lake is from where you just came from."

"I didn't really have a destination in mind. I just felt like exploring since there isn't much else I could do besides stare at fish. In addition, my main reason for being here in the first place is to explore the village and establish diplomatic ties, so I can't just live like a hermet."

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you're supposed to be doing that diplomacy stuff. With the rate that people are joining the village, I kinda figured you to be another joiner."

"I'm not opposed to becoming a permanent resident. There are many ideas that Kashia and I have discussed which I have always wanted to implement with my tribe, but I lacked the resources to do so. With Kashia's assistance, they are actually possible." Speaking of ideas, I couldn't help but be taken back to the first few years that I acted as a traveler for my tribe.

During my travels, I saw many unique technologies utilized by other settlements and civilizations. While I had wanted to try a few of these technologies, my tribe lacked the time, effort or resources required to make them. The fishery was one of the few things I could attempt since it didn't require supplies that my village didn't already have.

"Hopefully you decide to stay here. The arena fights would become boring otherwise, especially when most of the fights end up between the same ogres and trolls."

"At least it's nice to know that I'm appreciated, even if it's for my fighting ability instead of my worldly experience." Trabgo gave my leg a reassuring pat when I admitted this.

"Don't worry, your worldly experience is still appreciated here." Both Trabgo and I jumped in surprised before we quickly turned to see the grinning face of Kashia.

"By the gods, do you really have to startle us like that?" I asked while my heartbeat began slowing down.

"Do I have to? No, no I don't. But, is it really funny? Yes, it really is." The trickster deity answered. "Still, I hope you're having a good morning, no doubt that Trabgo has already alerted you to the changes that have occurred." I nodded, giving the woman reason to continue, "Well, that is what brings me here today since I'll need to borrow Trabgo."

"Wait, you need me? What for?" The curious hobgoblin asked.

"With the influx of people that've joined us today, quite a few need a bit of a helping hand in acclimating to life here. After a bit of thinking, I found that you were the perfect candidate in helping out." Kashia answered confidently.

"While I'm not saying no to your decision, I don't understand why me? Wouldn't Muap be a better choice? He's the better talker than I am."

Kashia simply gave Trabgo a knowing smile before she knelt down to the hobgoblin's eyelevel and said, "You're correct that Muap is a bit more charismatic that you, but that's because he's more practiced in talking to others, which also means that he's already too occupied with his other duties around the village. I've chosen you because we need more conversationalists and you're the best candidate."

Trabgo's unease appeared to lessened with Kashia's answer, and in fact, he looked more confident. "Of course, Fox Lady! I'll get this job done. Just lead the way!" Kashia gave Trabgo a nod and stood up.

"Then, come along." Before she and Trabgo left me, Kashia said over her shoulder to me, "By the way, I've put a bet on you winning in the arena tonight. Good luck!" I didn't even get to answer her statement as she and Trabgo had left me alone to my thoughts once more.

What I found to be very unfortunate with Kashia's sudden appearance was that I had just lost my conversation companion. Guess it was time to go back to exploring the village on my own. Maybe I'll investigate what the newcomers are doing.

* * *

**[Kashia]**

As Ninya and I walked down the street, I could tell that we were receiving many stares, excluding the looks I typically received on a day to day basis. I knew the reason why that was, namely due to the pair of small, black, wooden chests that each of us carried in our arms. While the chests looked very boring in design, the edges of the lid and the lock were covered in a golden metal that made them look valuable. Depending on how much I could get for selling the items inside, then their contents would be worthy of being contained within.

The reason that Ninya and I were traveling about E-Rantel at the moment was because the Swords of Darkness, Tuare, and I had split up after we settled down and made plans. Tuare and Lukrut were going to meet with his cousin about getting Tuare a job, Peter and Dyne headed to the guild to look at any available jobs and to find out more information on that pyrite mission. As for Ninya and myself, I had been interested in getting an idea on the skill level of alchemy in this world.

So, I had a pair of small chests loaded up with an array of potions, most of which were made with easily replaceable ingredients or had been mass produced previously. This meant that there were basic healing potions, potions that temporarily boosted stats, gave magic resistance, toughness, etc. The diverse stock would also allow me to learn which potion effects were more valued in this world than in YGGDRASIL.

Another reason that I brought Ninya with be, besides for having someone to keep me company, was because she knew the location of the best potion-maker in the city. The amusing part about this potion-maker was that she called herself a pharmacist instead of an alchemist. Perhaps the reason for this was that pharmacist sounded like a medical profession while alchemist made one think of a crazy hermit mixing herbs into a boiling cauldron. While both classes existed within YGGDRASIL and had similar abilities to one another, I always thought that alchemist sounded a lot cooler.

"Any idea on how much further we have to travel?" I asked Ninya, who appeared to be struggling with carrying the weight of the chest. I wouldn't blame her for tiring as we'd been walking for about 20 minutes while carrying these chests. Voicing my concern, I asked, "You doing okay, kiddo? I can give you a hand if you need it."

"I wouldn't wish to put more work on you, Kashia. You're already carrying a lot like I am. Besides, we'll be arriving at Bareare Pharmacy in a minute or two." Even though Ninya insisted that I not put more burden on myself, I positioned one of my tails underneath the chest and lifted it to reduce the strain on Ninya's arms.

It took a few moments before the mage noticed how much lighter the chest had become. "Kashia, did you cast a spell on this chest when I wasn't looking?" I simply gave the girl a smile before whistling in a guilty manner. "Come on, don't keep quiet while acting so suspiciously."

"Maybe." Was my only response, causing Ninya to groan. It reminded me of the way a child acted when an adult used the 'you'll understand when you're older' excuse. I was amused regardless, for the rest of the journey.

"We're here. It's the building with the crest above it." Ninya stated, causing my eyes to scan the buildings around us until I spotted the place that she was talking about. The pharmacy was a building made of whitish stone material, and whose pattern was only broken up by the wooden windows along with a pair of doors that stretched across the front of the first floor. Separating the first and second floors of the building was a wooden overhang while above that was a crest that very likely represented a pharmacy in this world.

Looking a bit closer, I was able to tell that the crest was carved out of the stone material of the building. If I recalled my history correctly, shops in medieval ages used signs with images instead of letters so as to inform the illiterate of what service a place performed. While in my world, signs like that were used more for decoration, I always thought that they looked nice and gave places some character.

With renewed effort, Ninya and I marched over to the establishment. "Hey, kiddo, you have any experience dealing with this pharmacy owner?" I asked.

"Most adventurers have had dealings with this place on one occasion or another. This place is owned and run by an older woman named Lizzie, but she also is aided by her grandson, Nfirea. Most adventurers in the city like to use her services since her prices are fair and she gives small discounts to verified adventurers. Another reason that she is preferred is due to her ability to remember the names and faces of her previous customers." Ninya recalled.

Remembering the names and faces of customers is a good business strategy. It causes customers to feel like they're important since the salesperson took the time to memorize who their customers are. This was a strategy that I had learned from a coworker who was once a former car salesman, at least until the company he worked for was bought out and he was fired.

"Hopefully, this Lizzie can live up to her fair prices." I remarked as the pair of us arrived at the door to the pharmacy. Freeing up one of my hands, I pulled the door open and motioned for Ninya to enter. When she did, I followed in and shut the door behind us. What I first noticed was the multitudes of scents engrained into the building that could only come from years of potion making.

In addition, while there was store counter with a wall of shelving filled with potions, it wasn't as eye-catching as the massive copper tank that seemed like it would be better suited in a meadery. Aside from this contraption, there were multiple devices that wouldn't look out of place in a science lab. I quickly ended my observations and focused my attention at a boy with blond hair that hung low enough to cover his eyes. He stood behind the wooden counter with a friendly expression on his face.

"Hello there, my name's Nfirea. How can I help you two today?" The boy asked as Ninya and I approached the counter and set the chests down upon it.

"We're here to get an appraisal on a couple of potions, and if possible, sell them. Would you be able to do that?" I asked teen as I popped open one of the chests to reveal the corked tops of multiple potion bottles that were divided from one another by dark velvet cloth. A look of surprise appeared on the blond's face at the number of bottles there were within.

"Uh, may I look?" He asked me hesitantly. I gave him a nod and watched as he pulled out a basic healing potion from the chest. First, he looked at the bottle in his hand, then back to me, then back at the bottle, again in rapid succession. "What kind of potion is this?"

"It's a healing potion. One of a couple I brought with me. Why do you ask?" The moment I said this, both Nfirea and Ninya looked incredulously at the item. I even noticed that Nfirea's had changed his grip on the bottle like it was a delicate egg. "Could you come with me, my grandma is in the other room? Also, bring the chests as well." He asked quickly which I answered with a nod.

I watched as he half-walked and half-jogged to a door behind him with the potion in hand. Closing the lid of the chest before Ninya and I picked up both, I leaned over and asked, "Is there any reason that both you and Nfirea are acting like I brought the Holy Grail to this shop?"

"The what? Actually, never mind. I've seen healing potions before, and they've always been blue. Never before have I ever seen a red healing potion until now. I can't imagine what Nfirea must be thinking right now." That gave me reason to ponder. So, healing potions in this world were blue? Was there a difference that made one better than the other or was this just a quirk about this new world compared to YGGDRASIL?

Well, my questions would likely be answered soon enough by either Nfirea or Lizzie. So, Ninya and I quickly made our way to the next room to see the blond teen speaking quickly with an elderly woman wearing a green bandanna. Their conversation was broken up when the sound of my heels clicking against the floorboards alerted them to my presence.

Nfirea was the first to speak, "Just a moment, miss. My grandma is about to appraise your potion." As he said this, the older woman held her hand out.

"**[Appraisal Magic Item]**,** [Detect Enchant]**." She spoke as a green light shined in her hand before covering the potion. After a few moments, the light faded and she began laughing for a reason that I couldn't understand. For a moment, I was worried that Lizzie had just gone senile, at least until she looked to me with a pair of intelligent blue eyes.

"Is everything alright?" I asked.

"It's better than that. Do you understand what it is that you've brought to my shop?" She asked excitedly.

Raising a questioning eyebrow at how this woman was acting, I answered unsurely, "A basic healing potion. What's so special about it?"

"In legend, it is said that all alchemists and pharmacists learned the art of making potions from the gods themselves. Yet, even with these teachings, mortals could only make flawed copies that were only a shadow of the originals and were colored blue to mark them as such." She answered before pointing to the healing potion on her table, "A true potion of healing is colored like the blood of the gods, and for time uncounted, none have ever been able to produce a potion of this quality. If one were to drink this, it'd be like utilizing a 2nd Tier healing spell." What quickly dawned on me as she said this was that potions of this world were only equivalent to healing of the 0 Tier or 1st Tier.

"Please, dear girl, would you tell me where you acquired this potion?" Lizzie desperately asked.

I also felt an uncomfortable number of eyes just fixated on me, especially when I set the chest in my arms down, opened it, and pulled another basic healing potion out. This caused Lizzie's eyes to almost bulge out of her skull and me to force down the laughter from seeing such an expression. "I have a couple more that I brought in this chest and a bunch more stored elsewhere. Both I and a colleague of mine made them." The second those words left my lips, Lizzie immediately shouted out.

"I will pay you 30,000 gold if you were to teach me the method to make these potions!" I didn't know what surprised me more, the energy that she was displaying for her age or that she had so much gold available to her. Still, whatever I said next would either make or break this conversation.

In addition, while I knew how healing potions were made, namely by combining three specific ingredients named ryunks stone, vievul dragon stone, and gold nostrum, I had limited stock. Of the three ingredients, I could only restock up on the gold nostrum since it was derived from pulping the nostrum rose which was a plant that I had stocked in my garden.

Unfortunately, the ryunks stone was only attained from mining deposits of ryunks, while the vievul dragon stone was gained from item drops by a vievul dragon. I highly doubted that both resources existed in this world, the dragon specifically because it was only found in the realm of Muspelheim in YGGDRASIL.

"Lizzie, you don't need to pay me so much to learn how to make these potions since I'd be very willing to teach you for free." Everyone in the room was astounded that I would so easily turn down such a large offer of money.

The only thing that I'm questioning is why Ninya wouldn't expect me to do so. From the way that Lizzie was so eager to offer a king's ransom, I believed that she had the money available. But I was also willing to bet that all of that money was set aside for supplies, alchemical and pharmaceutical instruments, and living expenses. I wasn't going to jeopardize her life and business for money.

"But your knowledge is worth a kingdom. Why would you turn down all that money so easily? Anyone else would immediately take this offer!" Lizzie asked incredulously. I smiled at the elderly pharmacist and shrugged.

"I don't need the money and you want to learn, besides, it's a simple recipe made up of three ingredients," I held up three of my fingers for emphasis, "What you need to do is mix together a ryunks stone, a vievul dragon stone, and gold nostrum."

"A-Amazing…" Lizzie stated as she rushed over to a table with a leather book next to an inkpot and quill before flipping through the book to find an empty page. As she did so, I noticed that the pages were full of potion recipes. Finally, she found a page and wrote down the ingredients that I told her, then the manic energy within her faded as she read the names of each ingredient. "Would you be willing to tell me what these ingredients are? I've never heard of them before until now."

"That's part of the problem." I said with a slight grimace, "From what I've seen, none of the ingredients can be found in these lands except for one; the gold nostrum. The ryunks stone is found by mining a specific substance while the vievul dragon can only be found in a specific land within my home country." Even though I broke the bad news to Lizzie, she didn't look as disappointed as I expected her to. Either that or she was good at hiding it.

"You said that gold nostrum could be found here?" Nfirea asked with interest. I nodded in reply, "Grandma, do you think that we could possibly substitute the missing ingredients from this woman's land with what we have here?" This caused both Lizzie and I to think about this idea with interest. Especially since it'd be very helpful for Haven-Lake to have a method of healing besides me. I know that I won't always be available, and my healing potions from YGGDRASIL were in a limited supply, so another version of a healing potion using ingredients from this world would certainly ease my worries about the village.

"It's certainly a possibility, my boy." Suddenly, Lizzie turned to me and looked like she was about to speak when I interrupted her.

"If you're going to asked about the gold nostrum, I can tell you that the substance is acquired from the nostrum rose. The plant and seeds of which are located in my lodgings in the city, so you're lucky in that regard." I took note of how strangely smug I sounded when I told the pharmacist this. "I think we could come to an arrangement since I, too, am interesting in seeing if Nfirea's idea is possible."

Lizzie's brow was furrowed in contemplation, then she answered, "I believe that we can make an agreement…" She fumbled for a moment, as if trying to recall who I was before giving up, "what's your name?"

"Kashia Blanc. I just arrived in E-Rantel and joined the Adventurer's Guild a few days ago." As I said this, her eyes were filled with recognition before she gave the copper tag hanging around my neck a curious look.

"Strange…" Lizzie muttered to herself before speaking up once more, "Still, we can settle those matters after the rest of our business. It seems that you brought more potions that you'd like me to inspect." The woman gave a nod to the opened chest on the ground, causing me to pick it up and bring it over to her. Both Ninya and Nfirea were silent as Lizzie cast spells to appraise and detect individual potions.

Even though Lizzie was hiding her astonishment at my stock, the sweat beading down the sides of her forehead said otherwise. Yet, that didn't deter her from writing down the estimated price and effect of each potion. It was actually quite professional work as she wrote the list in an organized fashion based on where the potions were located in the chests, yet when she was done, it seemed like she had just finished running a marathon.

Finally, she turned to me and said, "I'll buy up your entire stock. Nfirea," She commanded hastily, causing the boy to nervously stand at attention, "take Ninya with you and pay her the money owed. I need to speak with Kashia privately." Wow, Ninya was correct about Lizzie remembering names and faces. Still, both teens picked up the chest, and Nfirea grabbed the piece of parchment that Lizzie had written the information down on and left the room.

With only the two of us together, the older woman sighed before leaning against the table. "All of those potions you brought were either stronger than anything that potion-makers could craft or had effects that even I had never heard of before except in legends dating back to when gods roamed the world. Who and or what are you?"

I snapped my finger and caused a chair to appear out of thin air which I sat in. If Lizzie had any opinion on this display of magic, then she did well at hiding it. "I'm Kashia Blanc of which my current titles from many are as an adventurer, traveler, sorceress, and teacher. Who do you think that I am?" It was hard to deny that I was extremely intrigued by whatever conclusion that Lizzie might arrive at.

"You may not know this, but I've heard talk about you stirring up within the city. Talk of which has claimed that you can cast 3rd Tier spells. And yet, you've come here with secrets about potions known only to the gods which is beyond the ability of a simple 3rd Tier caster. My first guess would be that you're from the Slane Theocracy and are on the run from them for one reason or another, and yet, your clothing style and terminology do not hail from that country. Another is that you're somehow related to the gods, either through blood or worship…"

"I'll let you know now, I'm from a land that's completely uncharted by any country in this part of the world. But I'll give you one hint; you're on the right track for some aspects." I said with amusement. Even though I knew that I should keep my identity as a human intact, I couldn't help but amuse myself with this little guessing game. It was a little worrying.

Lizzie was silent for a bit longer until she finally gasped and looked at me in a new light. Before she could voice her guess, I held my hand up to stop her, "How about you keep your guess to yourself, otherwise it might ruin the surprise. Besides, we never know who might be _listening_." As I said this, my ears picked up on the noise of footsteps quickly scurrying away from the door. "Identity aside, I have an offer that I think could benefit both of our parties."

"W-What is it?"

"I'll give you a few nostrum rose seeds and a bottle of gold nostrum. In return, I'd like to know about any of the findings that your research gives you. In addition, you can keep all profits of the end product for yourself, since I don't want them. But I'd like some stock of the potions if you finish them." With this offer, I was giving her everything while asking for very little in return.

A less honorable person might just take everything and run, yet Lizzie didn't seem the type to dishonor her agreements. In addition, the guessing game that we played earlier had the benefit of making Lizzie see me as someone to not upset. Her blue eyes met my orange, as if trying to look for something in my gaze.

"I accept." With a smirk, I nodded and got up from my chair, causing it to disperse as I did so.

Waling over to the elder pharmacist, I held my hand out and Lizzie shook it with her own, "Then I'm pleased to start this wonderful partnership with you. I'll bring the seeds and ingredients to your shop tomorrow." I said before breaking our handshake and walking to the door of the main shop. Before I left, I turned back and added, "Also, try to keep our guessing game private." I left before she could say anything.

In the front room of the pharmacy, Ninya could be seen collecting a small chest of gold from Nfirea. "-and that's 327. Are you sure that you'll be able to carry this?" The boy asked uncertainly. Ninya gave a grunt of effort as she tried to lift the chest, but she quickly gave up after the chest showed no sign of budging.

"Having a bit of trouble, kiddo?" I asked, causing both teens to jump at my arrival and also gave me reason to question how those two didn't hear the noise my shoes made on the floorboards. "By the way, the pair of you need to work on your sneaking skills." Saying this, I walked up to the counter with the chest and shocked both of the teens with the way that I easily deadlifted the heavy container.

Truthfully, I was cheating by using my tails to lift the chest, not that I was going to let Ninya know anytime soon. "Hey, kiddo, did the transaction go without a hitch?"

"Uh…Yes, Kashia. Nfirea and I got everything taken care of." Ninya answered.

"Excellent work, kiddo! Nfirea, it was a pleasure meeting and doing business with you. Your grandmother can explain a bit more about what we discussed. Until then, have a good day." Nfirea quickly nodded.

"Same as well, Lady Kashia." The formality that Nfirea was showing me was because either he and Ninya listened to quite a bit of Lizzie and my conversation or Ninya had told him something. Still, both Lizzie and Nfirea would be helpful in getting my name spread throughout the city and I wasn't opposed to it.

Proceeding this, both Ninya and I left the store much richer than before, well, rich with this world's currency. The items of mine which were stored away would probably be worth an entire kingdom based upon how my most basic items were exceptionally stronger than this world's. Still, I was pleased at the way that my business with the pharmacy went, especially because there could be a way to create potions using the substances of this world as a substitute. If the experiments that Lizzie and Nfirea were going to perform bared fruit, I'd have to set up a grow-op in Haven's Lake. It could also be a potential export, though the product would need to be sold to cities other than E-Rantel since I had no wish to compete with Lizzie's business. I also felt that doing so would be dishonorable since Lizzie was helping me just as much as I was helping her.

"Kashia, why didn't you mention earlier that your potions were so powerful? I've never seen a potion that gives one a resistance to the elements until today, and that's just one example." Giving Ninya a raised eyebrow, I could only shrug in answer.

"Truthfully, most of the potions that I sold today were the weakest variations that I had. For instance, that potion to resist elements just makes one resistant to extreme heat and cold for two minutes. The stronger version I have makes you immune and lasts eight hours." As I said this, Ninya's jaw dropped.

"Please, don't tell me that you can make an even stronger version of that healing potion."

"Sorry to disappoint you but I can. So can Meepo." Ninya sighed in exasperation. "You've seen a bit of what I can do, at this point you should be getting used to my ridiculous ability to defy conventional logic and power. Which also reminds me," Opening up the small black portal to my inventory, I shoved the chest inside to free up my hands.

Ninya looked like she was about to say something, but gave up midway and changed the subject, "Guess that our next stop is to the guild. Do you think that the others managed to finish up their tasks as well?"

"For Peter and Dyne, I'd be completely surprised if they hadn't finished up by now. With Lukrut and your sister, it's a fifty-fifty wager since getting Tuare setup with a job will take a while longer." I reasoned with a giggle.

"I could see that happening," Ninya remarked with a smirk, "Also, when do you think we'll train today?"

"I'd like to do so after we meet the others at the guild as I highly doubt that we'll be performing a job today since we have to get everything arranged for Tuare. But, as I said before, we'll be stress-testing your abilities since I want to see what I'm working with. From there, I'll figure out which spells you should learn to expand your spell portfolio." Aside from just learning spells, I also wanted to teach Ninya in ways to be creative with her spell use.

You could cast a fireball, yet that would cost a lot of mana at lower levels or you could cast **[Oil Slick]** which was a 1st Tier spell that covered a decent area and add a **[Firebolt]** to light the oil on fire which would perform the same action as a **[Fireball]** but at a considerably reduced cost. What distinguished a good mage character in YGGDRASIL was their ability to creatively use weak spells to perform powerful effects.

At least, that was true for the lower-tier and middle-tier players. At higher-tier, your skill was determined by your ability to use delayed spells with **[Time Stop]**. Mastering these skills were fundamental in PvP combat since high-level caster battles were determined by skill and attrition.

It was easy to avoid a high tiered spell by countering it, blocking it or teleporting out of the way. The mage casting the high tiered spell would use up more mana than the one avoiding it. But that could be countered by synergizing a multitude of weaker spells together since their overall mana cost was much lesser than teleporting out of the way. Summed up, fights between a pair of good casters tended to be a more explosive version of a chess.

Even I used to fight like this until my racial classes made the strategy suboptimal due to my mana regeneration and ludicrous mana limit. It was far easier to overwhelm opponents with high tier spells since they'd run out of mana eventually while I would've barely dipped.

"Then I'll see what I can do to impress you." She hesitantly boasted, causing me to playfully tousle her hair.

"We'll see, kiddo."

* * *

After a bit of walking, Ninya and I finally made it to the Adventurer's Guild and noticed that it was still fairly packed with people. "Any reason that there are so many people at the guild today?" Ninya asked with interest as we pushed past a few people and entered the building.

"From what the others told me earlier, a pyrite mission was handed out today. It's to escort a few members of the Magician's Guild through the Great Forest of Tob. Apparently, the pay is pretty good, so there have been a lot of low ranked adventurers that are desperate for the job." I answered as I looked around the guild for the others.

"That's interesting. The Magician's Guild doesn't offer that many jobs to our guild, so this is a rare occurrence." Ninya remarked. While I hadn't thought that much about the pyrite mission today, hearing Ninya mention this tidbit made me curious. What was so interesting to the Magician's Guild that they'd wish for an escort into Tob? It also slightly worried me because of the way that I'd established my presence in lake since it could make trouble for the Greenclaw tribe if the mission took them near that area.

Before I could think more on this, both mine and Ninya's names were called by Peter as he and Dyne approached us. The first thing I noticed about the two men were their expressions. While Peter did well in concealing his emotions, Dyne's face was filled with worry. "Glad to see you two finally finished your task. Did everything go smoothly or did anything happen?" Peter greeted.

"Oh, nothing that Ninya and I couldn't handle. What about the two of you? The both of you look like someone just kicked you in the balls." I answered, causing Peter to nervously laugh while scratching the back of his head.

"That obvious, huh? Well, thing is…Guildmaster Pluton approached both Dyne and I earlier and asked us to do something. Specifically, to have us ask you to meet him in his office when you finally arrived at the guild." Ninya let out a small gasp at hearing this.

"But…Pluton Ainzach almost never asks anyone to meet him unless it's really important. He only ever does so if he's banishing someone from the guild, promoting them to ranks above platinum or because a person with high standing asked him to meet with a guildmember." Ninya nervously stated as she looked at me.

"If he wants to meet with me, I don't see an issue with it. I've only been here a few days so I'm positive that I haven't gotten into trouble for something that I might've done." I said in an attempt to reassure the three adventurers while also giving Ninya a wink. "I'll be back before anyone starts to miss me. Now, mind pointing me to the man's office?"

"His office is upstairs on the left." Dyne answered before adding, "Good luck with the meeting, and try to avoid upsetting Pluton. I know stories of adventurers that angered him and ended up stuck at a low rank for years." I acknowledged the concern with a nod and left the three to head upstairs.

I wouldn't say that I was worried as I made my way to Pluton's office, also I couldn't help but get a small chuckle at how close the guildmaster's name was to the dwarf planet Pluto. At the very least, the man's name was something unique in comparison to those of the kingdom's cities. A bit more walking and I eventually found myself standing before the office door of Pluton.

The door itself was quite bare, lacking anything ornate to distinguish itself as the barrier to a guildmaster's office if not for the words 'Guildmaster' that looked like it'd been carved into the door with a knife. With a shrug, I turned the brass handle of the door and opened it to reveal a room containing only a desk, an armor and weapons stand, and a crude map of the kingdom that was nailed into the back wall.

Sitting at the desk was a large man with the body of a forty-year-old but the hair color of someone in their sixties. My first thought upon seeing him was that he looked like he belonged on a battlefield, not at a desk. Even the weapon resting on its stand looked well-polished and ready to decapitate any fool that challenged this man.

The clothing he wore looked well-tailored and clean, yet the man's musculature was still able to stretch those clothes. With his well-combed mustache and hair, I half expected this man to rip his shirt off by flexing his muscles before challenging me to three rounds in a boxing ring. I had no doubt that when he was younger, Pluton was easily able to woe women with his looks.

When I entered, Pluton stopped writing on a sheet of parchment and looked up at me with full attention and a friendly demeanor. "You must be Kashia Blanc, I presume?"

"I am. And you're Pluton Ainzach, I hope. Otherwise I'm afraid that I've entered the wrong room." I joked as I approached the man's desk. He gave a good-natured laugh and set his quill into an inkpot.

"No, you are not wrong. This is my office, even if it isn't as impressive as one might believe a guildmaster's office should be." He replied, "At least you're one of the few to come here that hasn't shit their britches upon speaking with me, I like that."

"Same couldn't be said about my team. They all acted like the Grim Reaper was coming for my soul when they heard you wanted to meet me." I replied. "Not that I could blame them, you're pretty intimidating from what I've heard."

"Only when I need to be. I've heard many rumors about myself during my tenure as guildmaster. The most amusing one was about how I forced a man that angered me to climb a tree for a week to scare away the birds."

"And why would you have someone climb a tree for a week in the first place?"

Pluton looked at me with all seriousness before answering, "Because I didn't want to hear the woodpeckers." I snorted in amusement when I heard this. "Woodpeckers aside, how much do you know about the Magician's Guild?"

"Just that they perform magic and made a job request for our guild today."

"While that very broad, it's understandable considering that you're new to this country. The Magician's Guild involves itself with anything pertaining to magic in the country, that would also include casters such as yourself. I'm surprised that no one told you but there's a rule that all new magic casters must be registered to the guild." I raised a questioning eyebrow at this statement. "But, considering that you appear to be a competent mage, said requirement is lessened."

"And why do all the new magic casters need to be registered with the Magician's Guild? Seems like a way piss off a lot of people that can create fire at will."

"Officially, the Magician's Guild does so to safely train new magic casters and prevent accidents such as creating a forest fire or flooding a farm. It's reasonable since more than one forest and village has been burned to the ground because a new mage didn't know how to control their magically conjured fire." From the matter-of-fact way that Pluton said this, it seemed like this has happened way too often.

But it was understandable to see something like this in a world where anyone with the ability could learn how to cast spells. It was like giving a kid a gun without training and expecting them not to accidentally shoot someone. I had no idea how old one had to be to cast spells in this world, but if a five-year-old could cast **[Firebolt]**, then I'd be shitting myself if someone wasn't there to teach and monitor them.

Still though, I couldn't just see the Magician's Guild doing this out of the kindness of their hearts, "What's the unofficial reason?" I asked.

"It's a way for them to monitor mages in the kingdom, learn whatever spells they know how to cast, and indoctrinate those young enough to be loyal. The Adventurer's Guild differ from the Magician's in the way that we treat our members. For us, due to our organization being established in multiple different countries, we are neutral in country politics and very hands-off with our members, otherwise other countries might suspect us to be creating an army."

"With the Magician's Guild, they are only in the Re-Estize, making them involved in the kingdom's politics and given approval by the royal family to perform actions that our guild would never be allowed. That includes making a fighting force from the members of their guild." And that's what it comes to, doesn't it? Living weapons, an intelligent idea that I saw utilized back home with cybernetically enhanced soldiers.

"What does all of this have to do with me?" I decided to skip the reach-around and just jump to the true meat of this discussion.

"The guildmaster of E-Rantel, Theo Rakheshir, has personally asked for you to be part of the escort mission for the Magician's Guild. The fact that he's asking for you specifically means that you've attracted his interest." I didn't know whether to be worried about this news or not, especially because I didn't have enough knowledge about the Magician's Guild or Theo Rakheshir to make an opinion.

"From the way this discussion is going, I'm getting the feeling that there isn't a choice in this matter. Is there?"

"There is certainly a choice, Miss Blanc. You could say no, but that also means that you'd be drawing the ire of a politically strong guild with multiple connections upon yourself." Pluton answered with a sympathetic expression, "While I'd like to say that the Adventurer's Guild is here to help its members, we cannot afford to be dragged into a political dispute with their guild."

"So, I'm alone in this?"

"Yes, you very much are. The sole comfort that I can give you is the promise that you won't be kicked out of the guild for whatever decision you choose to make. That said, I'll need your answer now since there is only one spot left in the mission that needs to be filled and it's not a good idea to keep the Magician's Guild waiting."

"I'll join the mission then. But," I added with a small smirk, "I should be made a silver-plate if I'm being required to work this mission as a copper-plate." Pluton didn't even seem fazed by my request.

"Before I answer that, I would like you to answer a question." I crossed my arms under my chest and confidently nodded, "I've been hearing rumors about you, specifically about your ability to cast a 3rd Tier spell. Mind enlightening me about whether there is some truth to said rumors?"

"You're the second person today to tell me this. Though, the rumor is correct. I can cast 3rd Tier spells. Why do you ask?" Pluton gave a cocky smirk as he pulled open a drawer on his desk and pulled out a necklace before tossing it to me on the table. Picking up the item I looked down to see a silver adventurer's plate.

"Consider that silver-plate to be a placeholder for you. If you come back from the job, there'll be a platinum-plate waiting for you." I gave him a questioning stare as I took off the copper-plate necklace and replaced it with the silver-plate.

"Any reason for why I'm being elevated to the rank of a platinum-plate so quickly?"

"An unspoken rule about the ranking system is this; if a member performs a feat that belongs to a specific rank, then they'll be promoted to said rank unless they demonstrate that they're unworthy of it. For platinum-plates, a method to skip the grind to that rank is to display an ability to cast 3rd Tier spells. While normally, a test would be performed, the fact that the Magician's Guild is interested in you give credence that you are a powerful mage."

If casting a known 3rd Tier spell got me to the rank of platinum-plate, I wonder what might happen if I performed an obvious 4th Tier spell, since it seemed like the guards that had seen me cast a 6th Tier spell didn't understand how powerful the spell I cast was. Now, I just had to figure out which 4th Tier spell would be the best for the job…

"I see. Anything I should know about the mission that wasn't said before?"

"The mission is in three days and leaves the Magician's Guild at dawn. It'll take two to three days to get there and back, so pack appropriately. Everyone is on their own for supplies. If you aren't aware of it now, the Forest is a wild and dangerous place, so don't let your guard down in there. Good luck, Miss Blanc."

"Thanks, Guildmaster Ainzach. I'll see you again when I come back for the platinum-plate." I replied before I walked out of the office with multiple thoughts running through my mind.

Before I closed the door, I heard Pluton say to himself when he thought I was out of earshot, "_Why the hell did women not look like that when I was younger?_" It took all my self-control to not burst out laughing when pulled the door shut.

* * *

**[Two Hours Later]**

To say the others were shocked at hearing the news was an understatement. There had been a lot of questions asked, most of which I had been unable to answer. It actually got even worse when Lukrut and Tuare arrived since Lukrut didn't stop talking until Peter smacked him upside the head. Like an alarm clock, the archer stopped asking questions and things settled down.

After the questioned was finished, the group moved onto congratulating me and planned to take me out for drinks at a tavern as a way to celebrate. While they didn't take no for an answer, I was able to move the date for drinking to tomorrow since I wanted to finally take a crack at training Ninya.

That was what brought me here in one of the fields outside E-Rantel with Ninya. And let me tell you, I had been running the little mage ragged. Currently, she was breathing heavily while sweat caked her brow. She'd gotten so overheated that she even took off the cloak the she always wore.

In front of both Ninya and I was a patch of earth that was sliced apart, charred, and frozen. "I-I can't cast **[Acid Arrow]** any-anymore." She gasped out as she tried to catch her breath. I hadn't been lying when I said I'd be stress testing her. For the past two hours, I'd been taking note of the spells she knew, how often she could cast them, and the speed at which she could do so. Anytime she ran out of mana, I'd just use **[Mana Font]** to charge her back up.

For the spell **[Acid Arrow]** her maximum amount of casts for it was 4. Even without using spells to detect it, with YGGDRASIL logic, that meant that her MP bar would be at 8 since 2nd Tier spells cost 2 mana. I was fairly impressed with her ability to use the 2nd Tier spell since, of what I learned from Ninya, only one in five to ten thousand could cast them. But, what I also learned with testing Ninya was when I used **[Discern Enemy] **and **[Mana Essence]** to keep track of Ninya's stats, I was excited to see that when we started, Ninya was at level 8. Yet, at this point she had reached level 9, alerting me that it was possible for beings in this world to level up just like in YGGDRASIL.

Still, Ninya had been working hard, so it was only fair to give her a break. Quickly refilling her mana back up with mine, Ninya looked ready to cast some more until I interrupted, "Relax, kiddo. Time to take a break." The young mage sighed in relief as she collapsed to the ground and laid on her back breathing heavily.

"I've n-never had t-to work that hard be-before." The teen gasped out while I took a seat right next to her.

"That's because you've never had a way to quickly recover your mana until you met me." I answered. "Still, how do you feel after all of that hard work?"

"Like someone sucked th-the life out of me a-and shoved it back in." Not exactly untrue. Laying my back on the ground and propping my head up with my arms, I couldn't help but gaze at the blue sky. It felt greedy to constantly take glances at the sky, expecting it to turn into the polluted grays and black that I was used to.

"That just means that you're getting stronger. Training is hard work, and hard work is never easy. Else it'd be called easy work. But if you tough out the pain and push through it all, you'll keep getting better."

For a while, the pair of us were silent until Ninya asked a question that threw me off-guard. "Hey, Kashia? Who was it that taught you magic?" Referring to my backstory, I went with Inari being the one since it was the most logical.

"My mother." I answered.

"What's she like?" Now that one was going to be a bit harder. Just when I was in the middle of trying to conjure up a story, words began to flow out of my mouth and I couldn't tell if they were mine or something else.

"_She's kind, a bit of a trickster, but also very wise. While she could easily use her power to conquer, she preferred peace and instead used her abilities and magic to aid her people. I've no doubt that she'd love to meet you if she could._" When I finally stopped talking, I just remained speechless and worried. Then, I tried to picture my mother's face, my mother back home from Earth…Yet, I couldn't.

Her face was a blur. Maybe she had dark hair or red hair, I couldn't tell. I felt my breath almost hitch in my chest, but I pushed my thoughts down so that Ninya wouldn't worry. She's worried about her sister for years; she didn't need something else to become upset about.

"She sounds nice. I wish that I could remember my mother better, but both her and dad died when I was very young. What's sad is that when I think about my mother, I picture Tuare because she's always been there." I looked at Ninya with a saddened gaze.

"Oh, kiddo…"

"But it's not all bad. Even though it's hard to remember her face, I still can recall her voice. She was a kind person, like you." I lightly patted Ninya on the shoulder and caused her to meet my gaze.

"I think she'd be happy to see the person you are today. Even if it's hard to remember what she looks like, remember the person that she was, and then you'll never lose her." She smiled at this and gazed back at the sky while I did the same.

After a while, the sound of snoring filled my ears, followed by a new warmth at my side. Gazing out the corner of my eye, I saw Ninya sleeping against my side. "Guess training could end a bit early today." I muttered before gazing back at the blue sky.

* * *

**[Zaryusu]**

Ducking under a swing from the massive fist of an ogre, I cracked my tail like a whip against the exposed heel of my opponent. This elicited a scream of pain from the ogre, Dolg, as he fell to his knee and I back away to reassess my situation. The cheering of ogres and goblins around me filled my ears as I began circling Dolg, watching for the perfect moment to strike.

Tonight was something special as Kashia had renovated the arena for the fights. The arena was sunk into the ground while angled walls 20 feet high prevented fighters from accidentally flung into the stands or those in the stands from dying if they fell over the walls. Instead, they'd simply slide to the bottom of the arena. To exit the arena, multiple large handholds had been carved into the rock, allowing finished fighters the ability to climb out.

Multiple benches surrounded the edges of the arena walls, where multiple goblins, ogres, trolls, and some of the new visitors were watching with interest. Yet, sitting in a chair overseeing the entire event was Kashia in all her glory. Well, her and her clone who sat in a similar chair next to her.

"You may have fat tail, but I have biggah' hands!" Dolg shouted before charging at me. I took note of the way he limped that my hit from earlier was taking its toll. Staying still until Dolg was only a few feet away from me, I finally rolled out of the way and kicked out Dolg's ankle, causing the massive ogre's face to impact the wall with a meaty smack before finally falling onto his back.

"Just because you have bigger hands doesn't mean that you have a bigger brain." I taunted to the groaning ogre as he rolled onto his hands and pushed himself back up to his feet, one hand holding his bleeding head. "You still going to keep coming?" I asked while bouncing from one foot to the next.

"I'm strong! I'm tough! I'm…I'm…" Dolg's boast soon died down as he started to become woozy until finally, with a great thud, the ogre fell onto his face and began snoring. For a moment, the entire audience was completely silent.

"Dolg's been rendered unconscious! Zaryusu wins!" Kashia announced, breaking the tense silence. Following this declaration, cheers rang out, namely from the goblins and hobgoblins seated together in the stands. In triumph, I raised my fists in the air, eliciting more cheers.

You know, I'm really enjoying my time here.

* * *

**And that's the newest one, folks. Managed to finish this before Revenge of the Fifth was over. Major headache, but what the hell? Still, hope you enjoyed that one since I plan to crunch Days 7 and 8 together for next chapter. I'm also thinking of doing of Lukrut POV soon enough, so it might be seen in next chapter.**

**Stay safe out there and good luck during the indoor apocalypse.**

**Stay frosty my friends.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Vulpine Spanner in the Works**

**Chapter 12: The Eerie Quiet…**

**[Unknown]**

Under a cloudy night sky, a small being was flying high in the air. The being itself was quite inhuman, less than eleven inches high with a pair of small horns, copper-red skin, bat-like wings, and a deadly barbed tail. In addition, the creature was completely hairless, giving it the appearance of a monstrous infant.

While its appearance suggested otherwise, this demonic creature had intelligence. This being, otherwise known as an imp, wasn't flying through the night for pleasure, it was performing an assignment that had been given to it a few days prior.

For three days, the imp had been flying, stopping only to eat and rest, before continuing its scouting mission. Since it started, the imp had managed to locate two small villages, each of which were messaged to its master. The master would then send spies to infiltrate settlements and investigate or capture their inhabitants for information.

Yet, as the imp flew through the night, it managed to spot specks of light surrounded within a sea of trees, which indicated the signs of civilization. Much to the demi-human's pleasure, it increased the beat of its bat-like wings to approach the lights. Within the span of a minute, the imp arrived above a village that was much larger than any village it'd found previously.

Flying down to get a better look, the imp spotted that this village was completely surrounded by large walls, with buildings that were much taller than the one-storied shacks it'd seen from the other villages.

Before it could continue investigating, a large runic circle of white light appeared near the lake. The imp's white eyes widened at the display of magic, one that could only be created from the highest tiers of spellcasting. The small being didn't dare draw any closer to the source of this power as such an action would likely end with its death which would mean that it had failed its master. Witnessing such strength in this new land needed to be reported to the master immediately, and from there, the Supreme One.

With a hurried flap of its wings, the imp immediately took off and began flying back to its master.

* * *

**[Kashia]**

I took a deep breath as I tried to steady my nervous mind. At this exact moment, I was finally going to use my ring, Shooting Star, to use the **[Wish]** spell, better known as **[Wish Upon a Star]**. There was only three uses for this ring, so if this experiment of mine failed then I'd have lost a great resource that I doubt I could ever recover. There were two objectives for this experiment, the first; to see if custom wishes were possible in the new world, and second; to try and gain a complete understanding of how to cast magic.

In addition, I'd spent the last two hours preparing for potential outcomes of this spell, but if the spell did allow for customized wording, the last half-hour up until now, I'd spent going over the wording of the wish with my copy in case the spell decided to act like a monkey's paw.

This also is what led to me casting the spell at an undeveloped section of Haven Lake's shoreline in the middle of the night. With most of the residents of my village asleep on the other side of the lake, there was less risk of them suffering any backlash compared to if they were near me. Another safety measure that was put into place, for both my protection as well as the protection of the village, was my copy maintaining a barrier spell around me called **[Deathmatch]**.

Typically, it was used in large PvP battles since it could create isolation zones on a battlefield. A caster would determine up to four people be separated within the isolation zone. From there, neither people, spells, or abilities could break out of the zone unless the spells cast were higher than **[Deathmatch]**, the caster ran out of mana, or they were killed by people outside the barrier.

The spell used to be able to contain up to ten players until it was nerfed to four. Since the nerf was done before the introduction of World Items, players weren't as opposed to the idea since the ganking meta was absolutely horrific. One caster player would lock nine of their friends into the barrier with an enemy, and unless that enemy was built for combat against multiple opponents, they'd get slaughtered.

Following the ganking meta was the juggernaut meta, and the less I have to say about that shit show, the better.

Regardless, I had all my preparations set. The only thing to do now is make a wish. Giving my copy a nod, which she returned, I held my left hand up and announced, "Activate Shooting Star!" Following this, a large runic circle of magic, glowing with a bluish-white energy grew to life at my feet. At the same time, I had an innate understanding that I could make whatever wish I wanted, and if I put more experience into it, the wish's effects would be even greater.

I couldn't help but smile at the confirmation that **[Wish Upon a Star]** wasn't limited to predetermined options. "I wish to be granted complete knowledge of Tier magic, with this understanding allowing me to both learn and teach any spell from both YGGDRASIL and this new world!" The moment the words left my lips, my head felt like a nail was being driven into it.

Each second, it felt like a hammer was driving this nail even deeper into my head. But despite the pain, information began appearing in my mind. Simple at first, from what mana was, where it came from, how to harness it, and so on. But as the time went on and I began to learn the method of casting my own spells, the pain in my head began to feel like someone was driving an icepick into my brain. This became so great that I eventually fell to one knee while cradling my head in both hands.

Even though I wanted it to stop, I sensed that this would continue regardless of what I wanted. As my agony continued, my mind was force-fed knowledge at a rate that I couldn't even comprehend. There was just so to learn, too much!

In the back of my mind, I felt like the horrific pain would only get worse the higher in Tier of magic that I learned. And, after enough time had passed, I couldn't tell if I was screaming or not. For only a moment, I felt like I had reached an out-of-body experience since I couldn't see, hear, or feel.

Then, a voice spoke in my mind, one that I felt was the most beautiful sound that I've ever heard in my life.

"_Stay strong. You're almost there, little one."_

Finally, my consciousness abandoned me and I was gripped by the sweet embrace of sleep.

* * *

"-e up! Come on, boss, you're starting to worry me!" Hearing that familiar voice, my eyes shot open to meet the concerned gaze of my copy kneeling over me. My eyes looked past her head to see that the moon was still in the sky, though it was lower in the sky than when I last saw it.

Feeling the beginnings of a migrane, I nodded while massaging my temple. "Not going to lie, I'm never doing something like that again." I answered to the relief of my copy, "Felt like my head got bashed in with a truck." Following this, I pushed myself into a sitting position. "Mind telling me how long I've been clocked out and what happened when I was?"

"Down to business already? Any normal person would be taking a moment to catch their breath after what seemed to be your brain almost melting." I answered with a shrug which made her roll her eyes in response. "Fine, fine. You were unconscious for about a half hour. At the very least, none of the magical energy from the spell escaped from the barrier."

She then gave me a concerned gaze and added, "I was nervous when your eyes started glowing like lightbulbs. Thought that your head was going to explode at that point until you finally passed out. Did the spell work at least?"

With a simple thought, I could recall basic magical theory. From it, I knew that magic came from three different sources. The first, which was also the most prevalent, was by drawing mana from the surrounding universe into oneself, like the way wizards did. The second, which was similar to the first, was by being granted the mana from a patron. This was where casters like priests, paladins, warlocks, and similar fit in. Finally, the rarest source was by drawing mana from one's own internal source, such as sorcerers or beings inherently connected to mana.

While everyone's sources were different, every being was limited by the amount of mana that they could channel from their bodies at once.

With this knowledge, I smiled to my copy, "Absolutely! I don't know how far this new understanding of mine goes, but I'm able to recall the basics of magic!" I attempted to get onto my feet and my copy held me steady as I did.

"Some good news at last! Do you feel confident that you'll be able to get home or do you want to crash in the village?"

"I'll be teleporting back to my room at the inn. I told Ninya and Tuare that I would return later tonight, and I'd rather not keep the girls worried." Entertaining myself with a smirk, I added, "I think I've got a few ideas on how to give Ninya some 'homework' while I'm not around."

"Maybe you should try and save that for tomorrow. It's probably best if you get some rest after the ordeal you went through."

Returning my copy a set of rolling eyes, I teased, "Okay, _mom_. Want me to brush my teeth before I go to bed as well?" My copy flicked her finger between my eyes in reply.

"Don't give me ideas, smartass. See you later." With a nod, I began to cast **[Teleport]** when a deluge of information entered my mind. Teleporting with magic entailed the process of moving mana from one location to another. Whenever a person performed this spell, they were bending reality so that their starting location and their ending location occupied the same area. This is what allowed for such seamless-looking transportation.

I had to end my thoughts there since soon after, more explanations for different types of teleportation began appearing in my mind. I truly hoped that these bursts of knowledge would become less violent after some time had passed.

On the upside, I was finally a proper archmage with all my newfound knowledge of magic.

* * *

**[Lukrut]**

**Day 7:**

Another day, another copper, at least, that's what my father used to tell me. To be honest, I never thought that the saying was something that one should live up to. There were already enough people in the world that let their lives be consumed by riches, and most of them were horrid people.

For me, I found that the pride I felt and the acknowledgement I received when I accomplished a task to be an even greater reward than money, not that I was opposed to earning some coin when it was offered. It's actually what caused me to leave my village in the first place. While my father and mother were content with living the life of farmers, I was too adventurous to live such a simple life, forgotten in a town by the crossroads.

When I finally left home to make a life in the city, the constant buzz of activity was something that I fell in love with. In E-Rantel, one might stumble into a bar fight, find their pockets picked, and see a squad of guards fist-fighting one gang or another. That could all happen in a single day.

Back home in Signpass, such events might happen once a month. That mundanity was driving me insane until I finally left. Now, I couldn't imagine going back to my old life, especially when so many exciting things were occurring now.

In just this week, Kashia joined our team, another adventuring team was killed in the cemetery, we discovered that Kashia had a secret magical realm, Ninya's sister was rescued, and it turned out that Ninya had actually been a girl. If this was what resulted from just a few days of having Kashia in our group, then I could only imagine what a month with her would be like.

With a yawn, I scratched my cheek and pulled out a copper coin from my pouch and walked over to a food stall. It was owned by a hunter named Briggs who had this astonishing ability to cook the venison he hunted in a way that I couldn't find anywhere else in the city. Flipping the copper coin to the hunter, I pointed out a salivating slice of venison that Briggs sliced off and handed over.

"Thanks." I said before walking away with a satisfied grin. Tearing a chunk off the strip of meat with my teeth, I wondered about getting Kashia a surprise gift for the platinum-plate rank that she'd be receiving in a few days. At the very least, I could take a look around the market to see if anything of interest caught my eye.

My search, unfortunately, took a bit of time because the items and trinkets that I'd find didn't seem right for Kashia. She didn't seem to be someone who would be interested in useless objects. No, Kashia was a woman who appreciated things that could also have a practical use.

It was midway through this search that I heard a voice call my name. Looking around the area, I finally spotted the voice's owner. It belonged to an elderly woman with exotic dark skin that contrasted sharply with her white hair. Her name was Jevva Nial, a merchant who hailed from the far east of the Baharuth Empire. I've encountered Jevva a few times in the market, typically when I was looking for random odds and ends. If there's one thing she was good at, it was selling obscure items.

"Good day to you, Lukrut! What brings you to the market today?" Jevva asked with a kind tone as I arrived at her stall.

"I'm looking for something that I could give as a gift to a friend of mine." I answered. Jevva gave me a studious look before her mouth grew into a knowing grin.

"Would this friend be a girl you fancy?" I could only chuckle and scratch the back of my head in embarrassment at how easily she could read me. "Ah, so it is a girl! Now, that is different than your typical purchases. By the by, how well has the bow I sold you been holding up?"

"The bow is perfect. It's been working without any issues and the design has allowed me to fire off arrows with more force behind them. For the life of me, I haven't been able to figure out how to replicate the design without any of the test bows I made snapping." I answered excitedly. I'd only purchased this bow a month ago, and while the design looked normal to an untrained eye, there was a warping at both ends of the bow's spine. These warpings allowed for an extra bit of power to fire the arrow.

"It's an ancient crafting technique used by eastern desert tribes. Through a mixture of water and heat, they can add a warping to the bow that won't snap the wood. Each bow takes six months to craft, but the craftsmanship makes up for the amount of time to create." Jevva answered.

Water and heat…I'd have to try that for the next bow I attempted to make.

"Now, young man, what kind of gift did you have in mind for this girl of yours?" Jevva pried while resting her chin on her intertwined fingers.

"For the girl I'm thinking of, she's beautiful and refined, yet she isn't the type to desire frivolous objects. In addition, she's an adventurer, so she can take care of herself." As I said this, Jevva nodded in understanding as she reached under her stall and pulled out objects that were placed on the stall for my viewing.

Some of the objects were daggers, others were jewelry. All of the objects were unique, yet my eyes eventually became drawn to a strange silver object that had hinges on it with an orange jewel in the center.

"What is this?" I asked while poking the object. It was when I touched the object that I jumped as it quickly snapped shut to look like a cylinder. Jevva simply laughed at my reaction before she gently picked up the object and pressed the jewel, causing the small cylinder to open up once more.

"This is a hair binder. It's favored by dwarven women to decorate and manage their hair, especially," She then mimed a beard, causing me to nod in understanding. From what I'd heard, dwarven men and women could grow beards, guess Jevva finally confirmed it for me.

Still, I recalled how Kashia began tying her hair after her first day at the guild. That little object looked nice and would be quite useful for her in binding her hair up. "How much for it?" I asked.

"Normally, I'd charge twenty silver for this, but because you've been a good customer, especially when buying some of my less sold items, I'll lower the price down to five." Giving Jevva a friendly smile, I reached into my coin purse and pulled out the silver which I traded for the hair binder.

"Thanks for the help, Jevva. Kashia'll love this!" I said gratefully.

"I wish you luck with the girl. Come back again, young man." Replying with a nod, I left her stall with a bit of a pep in my step and made my way to the guild. Giving Kashia's gift a final glance, I was about to store the object away until a small figure tore it from my hands and began running. Quickly gripping my pouch in case this little asshole had a friend trying to take advantage of my momentary distraction, I began chasing after the thief.

"Hey, you bastard, give that back!" I demanded while weaving through the morning crowd. Thankfully, my years of marksmanship had trained my eyes to spot small moving targets. The thief may have tried to lose me, but I easily kept track of the dark cloak that they wore. Every moment, I drew closer to the bastard, and more importantly, closer to my breakfast.

In less than a minute, the thief broke out of the crowd, while I dogged closely behind. After a short sprint, the prick ducked into an alleyway between a pair of buildings. I began slowing down when this happened and weighed my options.

Knowing these streets, I knew that this alleyway led to a dead end. A good thief would know these streets well enough to avoid such a pitfall, that is, unless this was a trap. Just my damn luck…

Pulling out one of my hunting knives, I made up my mind to deal with this prick. I doubt that I'll be the last person this prick mugs, so I might as well end the cycle here. Especially because, as an adventurer, it was in my job description to slay monsters, fight bad guys, and get the girl.

Stepping into the darkened passage, I noticed that the thief wasn't out in the open. Instead, there were stacks of boxes and barrels, and in addition, quite a few empty bottles. I got an idea when I spotted the bottles and quickly sheathed my knife before I unslung my bow over my shoulder and picked up a few bottles.

Tossing the first bottle in the air over the nearest pile of wooden crates, I quickly pulled out one of my arrows, nocked it back, and fired it at the glass bottle which exploded into a shower of broken glass that fell behind the crates.

With no reaction, I threw the next bottle over some barrels and fired an arrow after it. This earned the reaction that I was hoping for as a surprised shout came from behind the barrels before a gangly man in dark clothing stood up.

My eyes quickly darted to the knife being gripped tightly in his right hand. "The fuck are ya' throwin' glass for?!" He shouted while brushing the shards of glass off his head.

"How about I answer your question with another question. What were you doing waiting behind those barrels with a knife for?" I replied while nocking another arrow to my bowstring. As I did so, I spotted a familiar figure that was still covered by a dark cloak, slip out of from behind a crate with a metallic glint from within the folds of their cloak. Making a split decision, I loosed my arrow at the cloaked figure and thanked my luck that I had acted quickly.

When my arrow slammed into the right shoulder of the cloaked figure, the person was midway through throwing a knife at me. This caused their aim to falter and the knife embedded itself into a wooden barrel right next to me.

"SHIT!" The figure scream while clutching their shoulder. This managed to distract the man nearest to me and gave me the chance to quickly nock another arrow onto my bowstring before he could retaliate.

"Osp, you alright?!" The man closest me to shouted.

"Do I fuckin' look alright, Zane?!" Osp angrily barked back, "I've got a fuckin' arrow in me arm!"

"That wound looks fine on my end. Then again, I could've put the arrow between your eyes." This caught both of their attentions, so I decided to continue, "I don't know who you guys are, and I really don't care. From what I can assume, your friend back there stole that object in an effort to lead me to this alley. Then, once I went past your partner, you'd try to jump me and steal my belongings. Is that about right?"

The man named Zane spat on the ground while muttering curses under his breath. "Fine, we admit it! We were tryin' to jump you. What're you gonna do now?"

I gave him a shrug in reply, "I didn't think that far ahead. I just wanted that hair binder back. Though, looking at the sorry state of your friend, I'm willing to cut a deal." I said while waiting for any sudden movements from either man. One reason I was willing to cut this deal is because I had other places I needed to be right now. The other, one which I'm a little embarrassed to admit, is that I didn't have any sort of way to capture these two for the city guard to deal with.

"What kinda deal?" Osp growled out as he tried to staunch the blood from his wound.

"Still got the object on you?" I asked, which Osp nodded. "I want that back, and then I want the two of you gone. If I hear about any muggings in this part of the city, I'll be coming back for answers from the both of you. Understood?" With sighs, the pair nodded and Osp slowly reached into his cloak to pull out the hair binder before tossing it to me.

Releasing the tension on my bowstring, I caught the venison while storing my equipment away onto my person. "This is your one warning. Try to use it wisely." I called over my shoulder while leaving the alley.

**[cut]Transcript[cut]**

After that ordeal was over, I studied the hair binder to see if it had taken any damage. While I found no damage, I decided to quickly rub it on my sleeve to remove any lingering dirt before storing it in my pouch. Hopefully, Kashia would like this gift.

It took only ten minutes for me to finally arrive at the front doors of the guild. In comparison to yesterday, there were a lot fewer people coming in and out of the building. If there was one thing I didn't enjoy, it was when there were a lot of people at the guild. I didn't hate the people, but I did hate that finding a job became more competitive when too many adventurers were at the guild.

Upon entering the guild, I made my way up the stairs to reach the table where the rest of my team gathered every morning. My eyes quickly spotted Dyne and Peter sitting together, but Kashia and Ninya still had yet to arrive.

"Morning, guys." I greeted as I took a seat at the table.

"Hey, Lukrut. You seem in chipper spirits today. Something happen?" Peter asked while I shrugged in reply.

"Just have a good feeling about today." I answered before switching the topic, "Found any jobs that we could do today?"

"Not yet. It's still a bit early so not many job requests have been submitted just yet." Dyne answered, "We're going to be waiting a bit before we try again." Then, he gave a sly glance to Peter while smirking, "Unless Helena has a job stored away for you." Both Dyne and I laughed at the reddening face of our team leader.

Yet, our laughter was cut short as a man approached our table. One that I, and much of the guild, despised. His name was Cassius Carth, a job poacher and all-around smarmy ass. His armor looked very pristine due to how few jobs he took that were actually dangerous.

"You all seem to be in high spirits. Any reason why?" Cassius asked as he took a seat between Peter and I.

"We were, until you showed up." I grumbled back. Either this guy couldn't read a room or he just didn't care since he didn't even shift position in his chair.

"Why are you here, Cassius?" Peter asked in his diplomatic tone. In response, Cassius turned to Peter and grinned.

"I was wondering if you'd be able to tell me a bit about your teammate, Kashia Blanc. After all, we'll be working together on a mission in a few days. It'd be helpful to know a bit about who I'll be working with." Cassius answered in that smug tone of his. Really, this asshole was working the Magician's Guild protection mission as well?

"Not happening, vulture." I answered immediately. This got the prick's immediate attention and caused him to momentarily scowl.

"That was quite rude of you to say. Then again, I shouldn't expect more from a man who only fights their battles at a distance." I was about to jump out of my chair to prove him wrong with a fist to his teeth, but a strong grip on my shoulder forced me in my chair. When I looked, I saw Dyne standing above me while shaking his head.

"What my teammate meant to say," Peter said in my stead, "was that you should really be asking Kashia these questions instead of us. She knows more about her own capabilities than we do."

Cassius was silent for the moment, then he nodded and got up from the table. "I see. It might be better for me to try this when Kashia is here, and tempers aren't so high." With that smug smirk of his, he left us, and Dyne finally release his grip on my shoulder.

"I fucking hate that guy. I'm surprised that no one has punched his perfect teeth out by now." I grumbled.

"He might be a prick, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he's a gold-plate. You can't just weasel your way to that rank without the skill to back it up." Peter stated as if I was going to challenge the guy myself.

While I'd probably get a few punches in, Cassius is specialized in fighting in close range while I trained to fight from a distance. I'd very likely lose that fight. After all, the number one rule of an archer is; if the opponent is close enough to hit you, then you've already lost.

"I get it." I answered Peter, "I just don't like that the guy is asking about Kashia. I've got the feeling that he's up to something."

"Or is it that you're just jealous that another man might have their eyes on our teammate?" Dyne teased with a laugh. I glared at the large man before looking away. He was probably right about my response to Cassius, but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of an answer.

"Come on, Dyne. Take it easy on the guy. He's still new to competing for the affections of a woman against an opponent that more well-groomed."

The second Peter said this, I leaned back in my chair and said loudly, "Hey, do you think that we should tell Helena that our leader, Peter, would like to take her to a private room and f-"

Peter's eyes widened and he held up his hands in surrender, "Fine, we'll keep it quiet." This caused me to chuckle at how easily cowed he could be when Helena was brought up. Still, I count this as a win for me and a loss for Peter.

"If the pair of you are finished trying to outdo one another, I've got some news to tell you two." Dyne interrupted, dragging both mine and Peter's attention. "Another group went missing in the cemetery again. There's been talk that intelligent undead might've risen which is why so many groups have been going missing."

That was a worrying thought. Undead were already terrible to deal with due to their innate strengths and hunger for the souls of the living. The biggest reason that they weren't a larger threat was due to their lack of higher thought. From what I've heard, one undead in a thousand that revived without the use of necromancy would retain their intelligence.

Combine the immense strength of an undead along with the skills and intelligence to utilize this strength to its fullest ability, and that would be an opponent that I'd not want to fight. But the two types of intelligent undead that were extremely rare, and a death sentence to fight if one were under the gold-plate rank, were liches and vampires.

Liches were said to have powerful necromantic abilities that could create armies of undead in minutes. On the other hand, vampires, while unable to create armies at the rate that liches could, were known for having unparalleled strength and speed along with the ability to dominate minds and create ghouls from their victims.

Even being a gold-plate didn't mean that one could take these types of undead in a fight. It just meant that they'd be more likely to escape with their lives. Either way one cut it, intelligent undead became worse to fight the longer they were alive.

"Have there been any ideas on how to deal with the cemetery situation?" Peter asked with concern.

"Not that I've heard of. From what I know, the Adventurer's Guild is just planning to raise the required rank for cemetery missions again. At the same time, the city guard is going to treat the situation as out of sight, out of mind. Until they start to see undead bashing at the gates, or they are given specific orders to clear the cemetery themselves, they're just going to stay put."

"That'll hurt the lower ranks of the guild." I added, "Cemetery work was always was the starter work for guild newbies." Dyne nodded in agreement before he stroked his beard in thought.

"I'm expecting to see brawls for missions if this continues." Peter remarked, "We probably might see an exodus of members under silver-rank from E-Rantel to other cities in the kingdom." I couldn't help but look over the railing and down at the members skittering about on the ground floor. It would feel strange to see so few members at the guild if an exodus were to happen.

It was while I was looking at the lower level of the guild that my eyes caught sight of a pair of familiar faces entering the guild. "Guys, Kashia and Ninya have finally arrived!" This caught the attention of my teammates as they followed my gaze to where our other teammates were.

"Eager, aren't you?" Peter teased while leaning the back of his chair. I quickly waved off his comment and thought about Ninya for a moment. If felt strange to think of the little mage as a girl instead of the boy she pretended to be. Though, it did explain why her face looked more feminine than masculine. All of us just put it off as Ninya being a late-bloomer that was due to grow some chin hairs soon enough.

Turns out that we were all wrong on that account.

But, keeping that in mind, I couldn't help but notice that the loose-fitting tunic that she wore seemed a bit tight on her chest today. I think I'm going to try and forget that the observation crossed my mind…

I tried to think about anything else which was actually made easy as my eyes were attracted by the movements of Kashia's bosom. Catching myself before I stared too long and ended up making a fool of myself, I pulled my eyes up to the exotic orange of Kashia's. While I've never said this aloud, it always seemed like her eyes had a slight glow to them. While one might wave such an observation off as just light reflecting from her eyes, the fact that she was a powerful sorceress added credence to my theory.

From what I've seen over the years, heavy use of magic could sometimes have a physical effect on the user, especially if the user was powerful. Changes could vary, but usually there was some type of tell that I've picked up on. For instance, Ninya's eyes would sometimes have a low glow to them, not as bright as Kashia's, but noticeable if one was specifically looking for it.

Another feature I noticed, typically belonging to mages who practiced a lot of necromancy, was a mixture of pallid skin and a thinness to them, as if they hadn't eaten in days. Regardless of the physical change, I've always had this strange ability to pick out mages from a crowd. While odd, I didn't take this skill of mine for granted since it's been especially helpful whenever our team had to fight groups as the magic casters could be the be the most dangerous if left to their own devices.

"Guess the gang's all here." Peter remarked as Kashia and Ninya joined us at the table. "A forewarning for you, Kashia, Cassius Carth was asking about you a bit earlier. He's going to be on the same escort mission that you're performing."

"Thanks for the heads-up. Anything he was asking about in particular?" Kashia asked with that mischievous interest of hers.

"Just about your strengths and abilities. We told him to ask you himself, both because it didn't seem right to talk about you while you weren't here, and because Cassius is an asshole. Lukrut nearly decked him earlier and I didn't want a fistfight breaking out." As Peter said this, I had the decency to look away from Kashia and Ninya's stares.

"I'll keep that in mind while speaking with him." Kashia assured us before changing the topic, "Have you three managed to find a job yet or are you still looking?"

"Not yet. It's a bit slow in the morning and none of the jobs being offered right now were worth the measly pay." Dyne answered.

"Then it looks to be your lucky day." Kashia said with a playful smirk, "One of my recent business partners, Nfirea, is in need of an escort to the village of Carne to pick up some ingredients. He originally wanted me on the job, but since I'm already going to be occupied with traveling to Tob in a few days, I recommended the rest of you instead."

That sounded interesting, especially since I've never been to Carne before. Usually, it was because there weren't many jobs that came from the village, but it was also a dangerous place since it was near the borders of the Slane Theocracy and Baharuth Empire. With the tensions that Re-Estize had with both countries, it made Carne a prime staging ground for one of the two countries to invade.

"What's the pay like?" Peter asked.

"Each of you will receive ten silver for accepting the mission, and another five for completing it." Now, that was a tempting offer. The trip to and from Carne village would take about three or four days, yet we'd be making a combined sixty silver from doing it. Possibly more if we hunted some animals on the way and took their pelts.

"Pretty good pay for an escort." I remarked, "I'm up for it."

"I'm in agreement, especially since we might be seeing competition for jobs in the upcoming weeks." Dyne answered, causing both Ninya and Kashia to give the druid curious looks.

"Sounds like an easy job that pays well. I am also willing." With Peter's reply, that left Ninya who hesitated for a moment before agreeing. It was understandable since she'd be leaving her sister alone for the next few days, and considering that the two had only recently reunited, that was a hard choice to make.

"I can do it." She then turned to Kashia, "Would you mind watching out for Tuare while we're gone?"

"Don't worry about your sister, she'll be perfectly safe while you're gone. Meepo will also be watching Tuare when I leave, and that kobold is probably one of the strongest people in E-Rantel at the moment. She'll be safe." Kashia's reassurance made Ninya smile and nod. On the other hand, I felt an ominous dread at how casually Kashia declared the terrifying kobold as one of the strongest beings in the city. After all, Meepo had shown how protective he was towards anyone attempting to court Kashia. "With that settled, Nfirea wanted to leave the city in the next hour, so he'll come to the guild to meet up with you."

"Lukrut and Ninya, you two are on acquiring rations." Peter said, taking charge as group leader. This was pretty usual for Ninya and I to get rations. One of the reasons was that we were good at acquiring long-lasting food, but the other reason was because we were physically weaker than Dyne and Peter. "Dyne and I will get supplies. We'll meet back here within thirty minutes for any last-ditch preparations. What'll you be doing, Kashia?"

"I'm going to speak with Cassius while you prepare. I'll see the four of you off before you leave." Kashia added as we all stood up from the table together and headed off to perform our assigned tasks. I didn't like that she was going to meet with that asshole alone, but I'd have to accept her choice.

Even though I knew that Kashia is a strong mage and could take care of herself, I just had this feeling of complete revulsion at the thought of Kashia meeting Cassius.

Pushing these feelings down, I rushed off with the others to gather our supplies.

* * *

**Kashia**

With the others going off to perform their assigned tasks, I asked around for Cassius Carth. It wasn't a long search at all, especially due to the amount of hatred that this guy had accrued among the other guild members. From what I learned, the guy was known for taking all the easy, well-paying jobs that was considered a taboo in the guild, especially if the job was below your rank.

Regardless, it did make me wonder as to why he had taken the Magician's Guild's escort mission considering that it was going to the Great Forest of Tob, an area that was considered deadly to travel due to the monsters inhabiting it. For a guy known for taking easy jobs, this was the opposite of his typical actions. There was definitely something else going on behind the scenes that I couldn't put a finger on.

Regardless, from the information given to me, I quickly was able to spot Cassius sitting at a table while reading from a leather-bound book. As I approached him, my eyes took in the pristine look of his armor. Either that set of armor was enchanted or he rarely got involved in combat. It would be good to note that bit of information for later as I'd be working with him in a few days.

"Excuse me?" I asked as I arrived in front of Cassius. He quickly looked up from his book and I felt his eyes trailing up and down my body before his eyes finally met mine. "My teammates told me that you wanted to talk."

"Of course, Miss Blanc, do you mind if I call you Kashia? We'll be working together soon, after all." Cassius asked with a charming tone that seemed opposite of the way the others in the guild portrayed him as. This didn't do much to change my opinion of the man as I'd encountered enough well-spoken assholes that'd stab you in the back as soon as it increase their standings.

"Sure, you can. I don't care about formalities like some do." I answered with an even tone. "Interesting book you have there. I don't see many in the guild that do much reading unless they have to."

Cassius smiled while closing the book and setting it down. "It's a bestiary of the creatures within, and around, the Great Forest of Tob. I like to be prepared for missions before going on them. Learning about what we might be encountering in Tob ensures a better chance of survival and success."

"Is that what led you to ask my teammates about me?"

"It's one of the reasons. Due to your recent arrival in the guild, there's not much information about you besides hearsay and rumors. You can see why I'm a bit curious." That's reasonable, yet I had no true interest in revealing much about my abilities.

"And are you asking the same about the others that we'll be working with or am I just special?"

"Of six adventurers that have been hired for this mission, I know that two are a pair of silver-plate twins that are average swordfighters. One is a skilled gold-plate monk that only performs jobs to afford his booze. Another is a silver-plate ranger that is more coward than adventurer. Then, there's myself who I am intimately acquainted with. Finally, there's you, the unknown sorceress that, until recently, was one of the newest copper-plates in the guild."

"Sounds like an interesting set of personalities. Unfortunately for you, I subscribe to the adage that a good magician never reveals their secrets." I answered with a smirk. If he was upset at my response, Cassius did well at hiding his emotions.

"I see. Is there anything that you could inform me about yourself, just to reassure me that you won't be a hindrance to the mission?"

"You'll just have to trust me when I say that I can take care of myself. Probably even better than you can take care of yourself." Cassius gave me a dry look at my statement.

"Noted. Hopefully, you'll be able to back up these claims during the mission. Until then, I'll make sure to keep an eye on you." He then smirked after this remark, "Then again, it's not entirely difficult or unpleasing to do so in the first place."

Giving the man a raised eyebrow, I replied, "I tend to get remarks along those lines quite often. But, to be nice, I'll tell you that my magic skills are above a silver-plate's. Take that information as you will." Following this, I walked away from Cassius to let him think over my statement.

As I left Cassius, I made a mental note to take care with the spells and skills I displayed around him. Unlike most, he seemed the type of person to heavily study and scrutinize my abilities. It would be a small risk to stay around him since he could potentially discover my lack of humanity if he looked hard enough.

While my **[Kitsune Illusion]** hid my tails and ears, it didn't hide inherent aspects of my biology, like my sense of smell, sight, hearing, or my enhanced ability with magic. And those were just some of my more obvious traits that couldn't be hidden. While I doubted that anyone could discern my true race, it wasn't a far-off possibility of someone figuring out that I wasn't human.

And yet, such an event didn't so much as frighten me as it did excite me. By now, hiding my race felt less like an everyday risk and more like a game. At this point, I felt like I was breaking a world record. Each day undiscovered was another to add to the scoreboard.

Unfortunately, the more I thought about my illusion, the more that random information behind the mechanics and processes of the spell filled my mind, giving me a mild headache. It'd been like this since I woke up this morning. I cast a spell and information would seemingly burst into my brain like fireworks.

While the headaches seemed to be lessening as the day went on, I needed to master a way of controlling these information bursts so that they wouldn't impact me as much as they did now. An idea that I'd come up with this morning to control these bursts involved casting a simple spell repeatedly until I finally forced the information bursts to stop.

Taking a seat at an empty chair on the first floor, I cast the spell **[Illusionary Orb]** in my hand. What came from this was a small, translucent, blue ball which gently floated in the palm of my hand. This spell, when used by other casters, could be formed as a non-damaging replica of other spell-effects in order to trip up an opponent. But, when used by a holder of the **[Chosen of Loki]** class, it would deal damage due to the class making illusionary spell effects real.

After creating this orb in hand, the small burst of information filled my mind. Then, I dispelled the effect before once again casting it in hand. Each time I did this, I mentally commanded for the information to stop. Once in a while, the information would cease, yet it wasn't an often-enough occurrence to label my training as making much headway. I'm not entirely certain on how long I'd been casting this spell as I entered a state of hyper-focus, but I was pulled out of it when I heard someone call my name.

Ceasing the spell, I looked up and spotted the familiar blond hair of Nfirea. "Hello again, Miss Blanc." Nfirea greeted with a smile.

Giving him a nod and waving him over, I said, "Good news, Nfirea, the rest of my team agreed to escort you to Carne Village. They are just out, at the moment, to gather supplies for the journey. What about you?"

Setting the canvas bag that he was carrying onto the ground, I got a good sniff of salted meats and bread within the bag. Then, Nfirea took a seat next to me. "That's a relief. I was slightly worried that they wouldn't accept the job. Not many adventurers are willing to travel up to that area considering the tales of the Slane and Baharuth soldiers being spotted near the area."

"I wouldn't worry too much about the tales of soldiers. Technically, adventurers are considered neutral in kingdom politics, which makes it in the best interests of other kingdoms to avoid killing adventurers as they could receive retaliation from their country's branch of the Adventurer's Guild." I said in an attempt to reassure the teen.

"Still, you can't expect the possibility that something wrong might occur."

"If that ever happens then I'll typically have multiple contingency plans in place to fall back upon. Regardless, I give you my personal reassurance that nothing wrong will happen, and if something does," I quickly cast a spell to create a **[Talisman of an Allied Beacon]** in my hand which I handed to the teen.

He took it with a questioning look before examining the object. "What is this?"

"Consider it an insurance policy. If you're ever in a situation where you and the others are in danger, just hold onto that object and think of me. It'll bail you guys out of danger. Just remember though, it only works once. So, use it wisely." Nfirea bashfully nodded his head before carefully pocketing the item.

"Thank you, Miss Blanc. I will make sure to keep this item safe."

Smirking at the teen, I playfully flicked him on the side of his head, "Your life matters more than a simple item. Avoid being stingy with it since you only have one life."

"I understand, Miss Blanc." Nfirea answered as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You know, you don't have to call me Miss Blanc. I'm not that formal."

"Sorry, Miss Bl- I mean, Kashia. It's just that after everything you showed and told my grandmother and I, it's just hard to not to treat you with great respect." I patted him on the back and smirked.

"You don't need to apologize. You haven't done anything wrong, after all." I reassured the kid before changing the subject, "By the way, what kind of herb only grows out around Carne Village? Seems like it'd be a smarter idea to try and find a method to cultivate it in the city. Would save you a trip otherwise."

Nfirea tried to avoid my gaze after I asked this. I even noticed that his face turned a little red along with a scent of hormones that emanated from him. "W-Well, there's also a person in Carne that I like to visit whenever possible. Going out to collect herbs also gives me an excuse to visit." I couldn't help but giggle like a schoolgirl as I finally pieced everything together. Little Nfirea had a girlfriend in Carne that he wanted to see.

"What's her name?" That got the boy's attention as he turned to me with shock and an extremely red face.

"How did you know it's a girl?"

"From your demeanor along with what I could smell from your body, it was obvious that there's someone that lives in the village which you have an attraction to. Though, I could've been wrong if it turned out that you preferred your gender. But the simplest answer is that you have an absolutely terrible poker face."

"Oh…" He said with embarrassment. "You said that you could smell it on me. What did you mean by that?"

"Compared to most people you'll encounter; my senses are highly advanced. My hearing is good enough to pick up quiet conversations in rowdy places, and my sense of smell is pretty much unparalleled. It does tend to be a bit of a curse in large cities since I can smell everything, good and bad. You were giving off enough hormones to make it obvious that you're attracted to someone within that village." The teen blushed before nodded.

"Her name is Enri. We've known each other for years, but I've found it hard to tell her how I feel about her. I'm worried that I'll screw it up and hurt our relationship." Nfirea said with a small bit of shame.

"Nfirea, there's a famous quote from my home that might help you here, 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.' Nothing will happen if you don't try to ask this girl. Girls like confidence and you have to be confident when confessing your feelings to someone."

"But what if-" I put a finger on Nfirea's lips to silence him.

"No what ifs. Besides, you've got plenty of things going for you. You're smart, not that bad looking, and you've got a well-paying profession and skills to match it. If you wait too long, someone else will snatch up this girl before you can." He was silent for a time, contemplating what I had said. Then, he looked back at me with a soft smile and nodded.

"I'll try it." Nfirea said with a bit of confidence. I simply nodded while my interest in Nfirea's courting outcome grew. It also made me wonder if I could try and push Ninya into the dating scene since that girl needed more confidence in herself. Before I could ponder any further on future activities for my apprentice, the scent of Lukrut and Ninya appeared at the guild.

"Glad to be of assistance. Speaking of, half of your hired help has just arrived at the guild." I nodded my head at the entrance where the two just entered. I waved my hand at the duo and gained their attention. They hurriedly walked up to out table and set a pair of bags down where scent of salt and pork emanated heavily from within them.

"It looks like we managed to beat Peter and Dyne to the guild. Even better, you managed to find the client, Kashia." Lukrut said with excitement. "How are you this morning, Nfirea?"

"I'm doing well, Lukrut. I was just conversing with Kashia before you arrived." Nfirea replied. "How long do you think it'll be before your other teammates arrive?" I remained quiet when said teammates strode through the entrance and picked out our group from the crowd.

"With Peter and Dyne, they'll typically arrive at the guild around the same time that we have, give or take a few minutes." Ninya helpfully replied.

"Make that just a minute." Peter said, announcing his and Dyne's presence while also causing Ninya, Nfirea, and Lukrut to jump in surprise. "Nice to see that everyone's arrived. Worry not, we've come with provisions." To demonstrate this, Peter and Dyne dropped a set of packs onto the table.

"Seems that all of you are set to go on your job." I remarked before focusing on Ninya, "While you're traveling, kiddo, try to find a way to combine your spells to enhance each other. I'll be excited to see what you come up with when we see each other again." The young mage nodded, making me chuckle, "Try to stay safe on your mission, everyone. We've still got to have those drinks at the bar."

"Just another reason to make it back safe to you, my beautiful sorceress." Rolling my eyes at Lukrut's reply, I watched my team and Nfirea stand from the table.

"Good luck on your job, Kashia. See you in a few days." Dyne said with a warm tone as he picked up his pack, followed by the other soon following the action.

"Make sure to come back and tell us about all the interesting details of your job when you return." Peter asked, which I answered with a nod while watching the group of four start leaving the guild. At the very least, I was satisfied with the knowledge that if they were to get into anything beyond their ability to handle, Nfirea would be able to use the gift I gave him which would allow me to bail them out of trouble.

That said, I felt a bit of amusement knowing that I needn't bring that many supplies with me due to my crafting abilities. I could easily conjure myself a tent and bed if needed. While some foods could be summoned or conjured with a few abilities that I knew, the methods weren't fully tested which made it a safer bet to gather non-magical rations beforehand.

I wouldn't need many rations, since I could just cast a permanent **[Enlarge]** on them which would give me more than enough food to last me the few days my journey into Tob would take.

On that note, I was torn between being worried and excited at the idea that some of the residents within the forest might recognize me, even without my furry appendages visible, and out me to the rest of the party that I'd be traveling with. Perhaps I could change my appearance some, maybe wear a hat? I'd have to figure that out when I arrived at that point.

Taking a moment to stretch my arms above my head, while also ignore a few of the obvious stares around me, I heard a satisfying pop and got up from the table. It was time to get to work since I couldn't just sit around here all day. Acquiring supplies early would be the best idea since I had an immense amount of time to kill.

* * *

**[7 Hours Later]**

After a long day of acquiring supplies, exploring the city, and practicing a few spells, I found myself sitting on a couch within my sanctuary reading a history book that I had bought earlier. While it wasn't as detailed as I would've liked, it offered a bit of information that I hadn't known before.

For instance, the Re-Estize Kingdom had one of, if not the, largest cavalry units out of all the surrounding countries. In fact, their cavalry units were considered some of the best due to the Re-Estize's belief that cavalry was what won wars, making them focus specifically upon improving those units. At the same time, magic was looked down upon, both by the army and many nobles, due to their belief that it was weak and cowardly for a warrior to rely upon tactics that didn't utilize their own physical strength.

I couldn't help but burst out laughing when I reached this passage. It was pretty obvious that whoever was running this kingdom's military was a complete moron. Back on my world, it'd be like a military that abhorred using guns because it was dishonorable. It wouldn't matter about how honorable a method was when the side with guns kills you before you can get near.

With the lack of mages in the military, I was absolutely astounded at how the Re-Estize has managed to almost keep their yearly war with the Baharuth Empire at a standstill. Either the soldiers of the Re-Estize were badass if they weren't getting wiped out by a salvo of fireballs or they just had a huge amount of reserves to replace the charred remained of the dead.

It would explain why the Magician's Guild had been established. Someone with a lot of resources, but not enough political power, probably saw the obvious flaws in the military and tried to create an organization to compensate. It would also explain why the Magician's Guild doesn't receive any funding, even though the organization served under the government.

Aside from that, the kingdom's political landscape was an absolute mess. Multiple chunks of the country were divided up between many nobles that ruled their territories with different laws and standards. This led to a kingdom that was extremely decentralized, with infighting of different nobles being frequent. I wouldn't doubt that the king of the Re-Estize was more like a figurehead than a ruler as he only had enough authority as the other nobles would allow him.

If the Baharuth Empire was smart, they'd only need to buy the loyalty of a few nobles to crush the Re-Estize from the inside. The fact that they were instead throwing away thousands of lives every year on the Katze Plains in order to shrink the Re-Estize's army was immensely wasteful.

Before I could read any further, the door to the cabin opened and Tuare and Meepo stepped inside. From the massive smile on the girl's face, it was obvious to see that she had certainly enjoyed her first day. Not that I expected anything to go wrong since I had Meepo act as her unseen protector today.

"Hello, Kashia!" Tuare answered before looking around the building for something or, more likely, _someone_. "Where Ninya and the others? I would have expected them to be here with you."

"Ninya and our friends are going on an escort job for a few days." When I explained that, Tuare gain a worried look, "Don't worry, it's just a simple escort job to Carne Village. They are strong enough to take care of themselves, and I've given them an insurance policy in case anything was to go wrong."

"That's good to hear. I guess I'm just still used to the times when I had to look out for Ninya when we were younger." Tuare said with relief while I nodded in agreement.

Setting my book aside, I snapped my fingers and caused a large couch to materialize in front of me, "Now, why don't you come on over, take a seat, and tell me about your day. No doubt the both of you would enjoy taking a load off."

"Thank you, Kashia." Tuare said as she walked over to the couch with Meepo and sat down upon it. After doing so, she started to work on removing her boots. Meepo took the time to soften up his spot on the couch before settling into it like a cat.

"Meepo has performed the task Mistress assigned with perfection! Tuare was protected from all harm while Meepo remained undiscovered by any watcher! Meepo is great at stealth!" The little kobold said with excitement before he began to shiver in pleasure as his charge stroked his back.

"Today was quite a rush. Miss Celica spent some time teaching me how to cook certain meals, know the differences between different ales, even methods on how to deal with unruly customers." She then smirked while looking down at Meepo, "Though I wasn't that worried since I knew that Meepo was watching over me."

"Seems like you had fun." I remarked, "Make any new friends or are you still working on it?"

"There was another worker named Marin who I talked to a bit. I can't exactly call us friends since we just met, but she was quite nice to me and helped me when she could." It appears that this job was turning out to be a good fit for Tuare. She was getting the chance to meet different people, learn new skills, and gain a sense of normality.

Right now, Tuare just needed a few constants in her life to rehabilitate her. A stable job, housing, and companionship would fit the criteria, and while Ninya or myself might not always be here, due to jobs, I'd have Meepo stay close by to her to act as another constant.

For a long while, Tuare, Meepo, and I just chatted. Sometimes it was about random events that happened during the day, other times it was just different topics.

It felt nice to have such a mundane conversation. I didn't need to worry about tasks that I needed to accomplish, dangers that had to be faced, the duties that I had to fulfill. I could just be myself and ignore the world for these simple moments.

Little did I know, but simple moments like these would become harder to find in the future…

* * *

**Day 9:**

Yawning lightly, I couldn't help but find myself a little annoyed that this mission started at the crack of dawn. I enjoyed my beauty sleep, and I hated having to wake up early in the morning. My only solace in all of this was that I'd be getting paid and earning a new rank in the guild.

The one good thing about it being so early in the morning was that the streets weren't as crowded with citizens as it would be later on; it made for a peaceful walk. At least, it would've if not for the stench of a corpse hung about the streets.

I might've said that someone had died recently, but the stench that filled my nostrils was from something that had been dead for a long time. I needed to get to the bottom of this, as either some undead had managed to escape from the cemetery or a hidden body was being exposed to the air.

Turning around the corner of one street, I was quickly brought face to face with a pair of cloaked travelers. One of these travelers, a serious-looking woman, might've appeared normal to a regular human, but I could tell from her scent that she was anything but. I couldn't exactly pinpoint what she was, but I knew that she was definitely not human.

Walking next to her was a being fully enclosed in a suit of dark armor. The armored one stood head and shoulders above the woman, and from the massive swords strapped to their back, they were quite strong. Yet, the scent of a corpse wafted from within the armor. This person was highly likely to be one of the undead. Before I could make further observations, the armored being said one thing that shook me to my very core.

"Fox13itch?"

* * *

**Stay Frosty My Friends.**


End file.
